Stanislaus County academic decathlon set for Saturday

The public is invited to attend and cheer on their teams in the Academic Decathlon's culminating event, the Super Quiz, and awards presentation Saturday.

Weathering late-night study sessions, team practices and hours of reading, Stanislaus County high school students are pulling out all the stops as they head into the home stretch of preparations for the annual contest.

Hailed as the biggest academic event for local high schools, the decathlon is a two-day series of tests, speeches and interviews featuring this year's theme, "The French Revolution."

There is no charge for admission.

Fourteen schools are participating in this year's event: Beyer, Central Catholic, Central Valley, Ceres, Davis, Denair, Downey, Enochs, Hughson, Johansen, Keyes Charter, Modesto, Oakdale and Waterford high schools.

The winner represents Stanislaus County at the California Academic Decathlon State Finals in March. Saturday's event runs from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Johansen High School gym, 641 Norseman Drive, Modesto.