Hopi High students win Most Improved awards at Academic Decathlon

POLACCA, Ariz. - Hopi High School's Academic Decathlon team won the Most Improved team honors and Abby Yazzie took third place in the essay division at the Region 1 competition.

The other Bruin teammates who earned the academic Most Improved designation were Kursheena Yazzie, Qoyatayo Honie, Chorosi Honie, Raicardo Jim, Skyler LaBahe and Sierra Wartz.

Eric Rothrock, advisor for Hopi High's Academic Decathlon, noted that the students competed against other schools based on their grade point average. He said Academic Decathlon involves a lot of studying. The competition features a different theme each year. The theme this year was World War I.

"The team could have done better if some kids didn't drop in and out," he said. "A couple of the students weren't academically eligible due to math."

Hopi High competed in Region 1 against eight other teams. Kingman took first, Payson grabbed second and Prescott finished third. Hopi finished in seventh ahead of James Madison Prep and Chino Valley during the competition at Payson High School.

Rothrock was proud that Hopi High obtained the most amount of points since 2003.

"I was proud because this wasn't an individual award, but a team award," he said.

Tammy Metz, assistant advisor for Academic Decathlon, said Hopi High scored more than 3,000 points better than last year.

Rothrock said the outcome was remarkable considering this was both his first year as head coach and Metz's first year as assistant coach. He noted that there was only one returner to the squad, one senior, and most of the team were sophomores.

"We should have a strong team next year," he said.

Rothrock was also proud of Raicardo Jim because he garnered the most points for the Bruins. He said Academic Decathlon teaches the students study skills because they must keep studying in science, math and other areas.

"This shows that Hopi High can compete in a state competition for academics, something Hopi High has not pursued to this degree in the past because the students were not confident enough," he said.

Rothrock said Academic Decathlon can help students get college scholarships and that it looks good on their college applications.

Metz said the Hopi High students gained confidence because each of them had to give a speech, something the students don't do a lot.

"The speeches were good for their development," she said.

Rothrock said he was amazingly proud of the students.

"They were well behaved compared to some of the students from the other schools who had clappers and whistles. Our students were polite to everybody and showed a lot of maturity. We were competitive to the end," he said.

Metz said each of the seven Hopi High team members contributed to the Most Improved award.

Abby Yazzie, a senior, said she was surprised at winning her award because she wasn't sure if Hopi was going to get any awards.

"So winning the award was really nice," she said. "Writing has always been my strong suit, but I didn't think I could get third place overall. It was good and I'm grateful."

Yazzie said she also takes a lot of pride in the Bruins' Most Improved award. She was the only returning student from last year's team so the new team members looked to Yazzie for advice.

"I wasn't sure what to tell them, but I helped where I could," she said. "I was really proud of my teammates."

Yazzie said she was glad to represent Hopi High School and show other schools that Hopi could win something other than cross-country. She said she learned study skills and learned everything about World War I including the economy, art, music, science and math.

Yazzie said both Rothrock and Metz encouraged the Hopi High competitors. Rothrock told them to try their hardest, but not to be disappointed if they didn't win anything. Metz told the students to do their best.

Yazzie would like to see all the students on Academic Decathlon return next year and would like to see more students come out for the squad.

Kursheena Yazzie, no relation to Abby, said she was extremely happy that the Bruins took home the Most Improved award. She liked the World War I theme for this year.

Kursheena was proud of Abby's achievement.

"I was psyched when Abby won her award. We were worried that nobody would win an award so when she won we were all yelling at her," she said.

Kursheena said she plans to join the team again next year.

"This helped me prepare for next year. I learned study skills. I learned that flash cards are good to refresh the memory," she said.

Kursheena said Metz helped her with math and Rothrock helped her calm down when she got nervous.

"The Super Quiz was cool because there were questions about several subjects," she said. "I was nervous because I didn't know if I would get any answers right, but I did."

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