1982 Academic Decathlon

Team Members: Chris Barnes, Charlotte Batey, Tim Blanton, Matt Carton, Neil Feldman, Tom Miller (Team Captain), Daniel Silverman, Melinda Van Steenwyk, Ty Williams

Coaches: Charles Rosengard (Head Coach), Jim Scruggs, Bob Gordon, Don Vettel, Ann Cierley (General Manager), Wayne Nunes, Robert Zeimet, Shirlee Leonard

On November 20, 1982, West High won its third consecutive Kern County Academic Decathlon title. The 1980 team took sixth in the State competition; the 1981 team took fifth. After the 1982 County competition, team captain Tom Miller was asked by the Bakersfield Californian about the team’s upcoming chances. “We’re a stronger team than last year,” Tom said “We should make the top three, if not number one.”

Academic Decathlon comprises ten events – seven written tests, a speech, an interview, and the Super Quiz. Each event was worth 1,000 points each. The participants were divided into three categories – Honors, Scholastic, and Varsity. Each category had three students, two starters (whose points would be counted) and an alternate. The 1982 had two returning members (Matt Carton and Tim Blanton), five other seniors (Tom Miller, Chris Barnes, Charlotte Batey, Daniel Silverman, and Ty Williams), and two juniors (Melinda Van Steenwyk and Neil Felman). 

Once the team was chosen they got right to work. Intensive after school sessions with subject teachers. Sunday nights with Vettel, who guided the speech and interview events. Most importantly, the team had access to the ditto machine. The County tournament was easy enough. A starter won or placed in every event but two. It wasn’t close. Tim (Varsity) and Melinda (Honors) won the highest total points in their categories. Four team members won individual event awards. And Rosengard was confident for the State tournament. “We scored 5,000 to 10,000 points above the winning teams in the other county competitions in the valley,” he told the Californian. “I really feel we will be in the top three [at the State tournament.]” 

And that’s exactly what this team – whose ranks included a future engineer (Tom), a lawyer (Tim), a physician (Charlotte), a graphic designer (Chris), a director of school construction (Ty), a private foundation consultant (Daniel), a high-school English teacher (Matt), and two IT professionals (Neil and Melinda) – did. 

As confident as they felt going into the competition, no county in the state took a bunch of kids from Bakersfield seriously. Until they had to. Third place was guaranteed after a strong performance in the final event, the Super Quiz. Just as they did at County, four team members won medals. Just as he did at County, Tim took the overall best student in the Varsity category. Melinda not only took second in the Honors category, she also got the second highest score of any student in the entire competition.

The 1982 team was a true collaboration of friends. You can see the proof of this in the team photo taken shortly after the County meet – six standing on a bench, four standing below. Their smiles speak volumes.  That photo, incidentally, was blown up to the size of a large movie poster and presented to Ann Cierley, whose vision brought Academic Decathlon to West High in the first place. That photo remained on an easel in her classroom for years.