academic competition

An image of a student displaying her National History Day project

Top performers from National History Day-OC competition now headed to state finals

Ian Hanigan
The results are in from the 2015 National History Day-Orange County competition. Capping months of research and preparation, student projects were displayed and judged at OCDE’s main campus on March 14, and an awards ceremony followed two days later. A breakdown of all the medalists by division and category has since been published on OCDE’s National History Day webpage. [...]
An image of McPherson Magnet students displaying a technology project

Five O.C. teams selected to showcase technology projects at the CUE 2015 Annual Conference

Staff reports
Congratulations are in order for the talented young scientists, inventors and engineers selected to participate in the Student Technology Showcase at the CUE 2015 Annual Conference, which is the largest and oldest education technology conference in the state. This year’s showcase will again feature the best curriculum-aligned student technology projects from across California. Here are the representative Orange County teams [...]
An image of the 2015 Orange County Spelling Bee winners

OC’s champion speller headed to Washington D.C. to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee

Staff reports
“Foreordained” – meaning to dispose or appoint in advance – was the final word that officially clinched the title of Orange County Spelling Bee champion for 12-year-old Sarika Rau, a seventh-grade student from Sierra Vista Middle School in the Irvine Unified School District. After four hours and 18 rounds of intense competition on Saturday, Rau walked away with a large trophy and a copy of Webster’s Third New International Dictionary. She also earned a bid to compete in the 88th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, which will take place in Washington, D.C. in May. [...]
An image of Westminster High School's Academic Decathlon team

Westminster High leads a pack of five OC schools headed to the California Academic Decathlon

Ian Hanigan
Marking a first in the 47-year history of the Orange County Academic Decathlon, five O.C. schools have been selected to advance to next month’s state decathlon in Sacramento. Cheers rang out in a packed Orange Coast College auditorium on Feb. 17 night as perennial powerhouse Westminster High was named the overall team winner with 50,981.8 points. Along with a special plaque, individual medals and local bragging rights, the school will receive a $4,000 travel stipend from the Orange County Academic Decathlon Association, which joined OCDE in announcing this year’s winners. [...]