Basha Academic Decathlon Class and Team

Our goal is top 3 in Region, Top 5 in State, Most Improved Team.

Basha Decathletes who have competed at Nationals:

Jake Summers - 2nd Overall in State! 2nd Overall in Nation!! - 2021

Gold: Mathematics, Music (perfect score), Silver: Science, Economics, Art, Essay, Bronze: Social Science;  Silver Overall in Nation (Honor)

Aria Hewett = 3rd Overall in State! 2nd Overall in Nation!! 2022

Gold: Science, Music, Silver: Economics, Mathematics, Social Science, Art, Bronze: Literature, Silver Overall in Nation (Scholastic)

State 3rd Place finish 2021, Region 2nd Place Finish 2021, Most Improved Team in Region

Basha AcDec 2021-2022

Coach contact Info:

Joann Wuthrich -

Elizabeth Gaffney - 

AcDec, as we affectionately call it, is a competition where students have the year to study specific materials under a unified curricular theme. They are then tested in a competition format. Much like swimming or track and field, there are 10 events (Math, Science, Social Science, Literature, Music, Art, Economics, Speech, Interview, and Essay). Some students may be specialists. They can win medals in areas where their strengths lie. Others are true decathletes and do well in all subjects. All students Must compete in all 10 disciplines. They cannot pick and choose. 

Like wrestling, academic decathletes compete in weight divisions, with the weight being GPA levels. 

Our three GPA divisions are: 

Honors:      3.8-4.0 unweighted core class + world language from the past 2 years, (freshman use only 8th grade year)

Scholastic: 3.2 -3.79 unweighted core class + world language from the past 2 years, (freshman use only 8th grade year)

Varsity:       Any GPA below 3.19 unweighted core class + world language from the past 2 years, (freshman use only 8th grade year)

A team can only win with teammates in all three weight divisions. A full team consists of 3 honors, 3 scholastic and 3 varsity students.  This provides an opportunity for students who are academically interested, but for some reason, have B or C grades to succeed. It also shows students at a young age that grades are not necessarily an indicator of intelligence and that they should strive to work with other students at all levels. Students also experience that, often the person with the highest GPA is not necessarily the smartest person in the room. I have been pleasantly surprised at how some of our "C" students have scored higher than many of the "A" students. This develops a tolerance for different talents in peers and a greater ability for collaboration. 

2022-2023 Competition Dates - these dates are firm, there are no makeups.

USAD Nationals: (top 2 in state qualify for nationals, top team attends in person, 2nd place participates virtually)

• 2023 – Frisco, Texas; April 27 – 29, 2023
• 2024 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• 2025 – Des Moines, IA; May 1 – 3, 2025

United States Academic Decathlon^® Curricular Topics for 2022–2023:

• ART: The art curriculum will explore early American art.
• ECONOMICS: The economics curriculum will cover fundamental economic concepts, microeconomics, and macroeconomics and will include a thematic section on colonial and early American economic history.
• LITERATURE: The literature curriculum will include critical reading, one long work of literature, and selected shorter works. The long work of literature will be Wieland; or, The Transformation, An American Tale by Charles Brockden Brown.
• MATHEMATICS: The mathematics curriculum will cover algebra and trigonometry.*
• MUSIC: The music curriculum will present an introduction to early American music.
• SCIENCE: The science topic will be an introduction to chemistry and will include brief discussions of significant advancements made in chemistry during the last half of the eighteenth century and the early nineteenth century.**
• SOCIAL SCIENCE: The social science topic will be the American Revolution and the founding of the United States of America.

Basha High Academic Decathlon has experienced several years of increasing success and is always looking for more decathletes. This is a class (honors academic decathlon - weighted GPA elective), a club, and a team. You can participate in the club and on the team whether or not you are in the class. However, we find that those in the class have the most success. Also, the class increases your GPA due to its honors status and weighted GPA. Right now the class is a zero-hour class, but we hope to add a second section during the day for those who cannot take a zero hour. This goal depends on enrollment. If you want to have a class during the day, we have to have enough people sign up. Encourage friends to sign up with you!
 

There is a $35 club fee that helps to pay for the curriculum that we purchase, and the competition fees for each student. 

A $35 fee and permission slips signed by a parent are necessary to compete. Please pay the fee to the BHS Bookstore or online. This is a tax credit eligible fee. We encourage parents to make a tax credit donation to our Club using the tax credit program up to their eligible amount ($400 married filing jointly or $200 single, head of household or married filing individually). Please designate any donations including the $35 club fee and up to your eligible donation amount to AMS Basha Academic Decathlon Club. Thank you!

 Payments accepted: 

• Cash
• Checks (made payable to Basha High School)
• Debit/Credit (No AMEX) 

QUICK STEPS TO PAY ON LINE: 

• LOG ON TO PORTAL CHOOSE CAMPUS PARENT (USE LINK BELOW)
• CHOOSE THE MORE LINK (BOTTOM LEFT OF PORTAL PAGE)
• CHOOSE IN TOUCH FEE PAYMENTS
• FIND THE FEE(S) TO PAY 
• IF A FEE IS NOT AVAILABLE ON LINE WE WILL HAVE TO ADD IT TO YOUR STUDENTS ACCOUNT, PLEASE CALL THE BOOKSTORE 480-224-2265 OR HAVE YOUR STUDENT PAY AT THE BOOKSTORE. 
• LINK TO PORTAL LOG ON: Click Here to Pay Online.

MORE DETAILED INFORMATION REGARDING PAYMENTS: 

Parent / Guardian Instructions

Parent Instructions for Making Tax Credit Donations & Fee Payments
Step-by-step instructions for logging in and making tax credit donations or student fee payments. NOTES: Must login as parent/guardian, not as student. If using a mobile device you must use your Internet browser, not the Infinite Campus app.

InTouch (TouchBase) - Tips and FAQs for Parents
Describes how to use InTouch (TouchBase) to:

• Make fee payments linked to your student's account
• Make tax credit donations linked to your student's account
• View payment history
• Reprint receipts
• View any outstanding fines and fees.

Click Here to Pay Online.

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COMMUNITY MEMBERS/NON PARENTS 

Community members/non-parents can also make online tax credit donations to a specific Basha student, eligible activity, or to the BHS general & athletic funds via InTouch Receipting link below.  Please note there is a convenience fee charged to pay online.

 *Link may take a few seconds to load

 Click Here for Online Tax Credit Donations

Support our Academic Pentathlon Club with your Tax Donations!

Arizona law ARS 43-1089.01 enables taxpayers a tax credit contribution of up to $400.00 per calendar year if filing status is Married, filing Joint Return; $200.00 per calendar year if filing status is Single or Head of Household; and, $200.00 per calendar year if filing status is Married filing separate return — for contributions that fund extracurricular activities in public schools. A tax credit is a full refund, not a deduction.

Contributions eligible for a tax credit are donated directly to schools, not to the state or the school district.