Whitney M. Young Magnet High School’s decathlon team took second place over the weekend at the rigorous and highly-competitive United States Academic Decathlon National Competition in Frisco, Texas, earning one of the school’s highest scores to date at the national level. Of note, both Lane Tech College Prep High School and the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences also participated at the national level in Texas but in a separate division with Lane Tech taking second place in that division and both schools bringing home individual gold medals as well. During the U.S. Academic Decathlon, each student competes in 10 events both objective and subjective: Art, Economics, Literature, Math, Music, Science, Social Science Essay, Interview, and Speech. Team scores are then calculated using the top two individual scores from each division. Earlier this school year, the Dolphins, the city champions who represented Illinois in the national competition, landed the school’s 20th consecutive state championship win at the 2023 Illinois Academic Decathlon State Competition with Lane Tech College Prep and Amundsen High School taking second and third place. At the national competition, Whitney Young 11th and 12th graders Amber Sun, Leon Cao, Om Raizada, Renee Picard, Zara Khan, Gabriel Ratner and Daniel Lee all won gold medals across multiple subjects while Juniors Yiheng Gao and Taihei Eastwood earned silver and bronze medals in Social Science, Music, Math, and Economics. Whitney Young has participated in the state competition for nearly 40 years, earning the State title for the past 20 years and rising to the rank of second in the United States three times, in 1995, 2007 and 2012.

Photo Credit: Chicago Public Schools