Academic Decathalon

Laguna Hills High is the new Orange County Academic Decathlon champion and will represent the county in state competition in Bakersfield in March. Winners of the annual brainpower competition among Orange County high schools were announced Thursday night by the County Department of Education at an awards banquet. Laguna Hills High topped Tustin's Foothill High, a perennially strong contender, for the county championship.

Proving themselves to be just about the best and brightest young people in the country, a team of nine study-hall superstars from John Marshall High School in Los Angeles won the U.S. Academic Decathlon for the second time in eight years Sunday, shattering scoring records and leaving 38 dejected opposing teams in their wake.

A San Fernando Valley team was honored by President Clinton after placing second in the recent Academic Decathlon. Nine students from Taft High School in Woodland Hills joined other winners from Texas and Arizona on Thursday in a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House. The students are "a source of pride to young people all over the country," Clinton said. "Each of these young people represents our best future, our best hopes," he said.

A team of nine quiz kids from Marshall High School bested students from 38 states in a key portion of the U.S. Academic Decathlon competition Saturday, bringing them one step closer to regaining the glory of eight years ago, when the school first captured the national title. Before a noisy crowd in a ritzy hotel ballroom, the school's decathlon team took top honors in the Super Quiz event that culminated the two-day showcase of academic prowess.

A team of nine quiz kids from Marshall High School bested students from 38 states in a key portion of the U.S. Academic Decathlon competition Saturday, bringing them one step closer to regaining the glory of eight years ago, when the school first captured the national title. Before a noisy crowd in a ritzy hotel ballroom, the school's decathlon team took top honors in the Super Quiz event that culminated the two-day showcase of academic prowess.

Proving themselves to be just about the best and brightest young people in the country, a team of nine study-hall superstars from John Marshall High School in Los Angeles won the U.S. Academic Decathlon for the second time in eight years Sunday, shattering scoring records and leaving 38 dejected opposing teams in their wake.

Santa Ana Valley High 1801 S. Greenville Ave.

Members of Marshall High School's championship-winning Academic Decathalon Team have a problem that some other people may find hard to believe: The brainy team's school grades have slid. Months of cramming their heads with the facts and forms of hydrogen bonding, Renaissance painting, quadratic equations and Shakespearean sonnets enabled Marshall to beat 52 other schools and capture the crown of the Los Angeles Unified School district's annual competition for the second year in a row.

Members of Marshall High School's championship-winning Academic Decathalon Team have a problem that some other people may find hard to believe: the brainy team's school grades have slid. Months of cramming their heads with the facts and forms of hydrogen bonding, Renaissance painting, quadratic equations and Shakespearean sonnets enabled Marshall to beat 52 other schools and capture the crown of the Los Angeles Unified School district's annual competition for the second year in a row.

Even as a kindergartner just learning to write, Canoga Park High School valedictorian Urvi Patel remembers being fanatical about making straight A's. As she moved from elementary school to junior high and on to high school, the 18-year-old Urvi, whom friends and family call "Mini" because she was tiny when she was born in Ahmedabad, India, translated her quest for perfection into late nights of studying, flawless homework and exemplary grades.

A San Fernando Valley team was honored by President Clinton after placing second in the recent Academic Decathlon. Nine students from Taft High School in Woodland Hills joined other winners from Texas and Arizona on Thursday in a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House. The students are "a source of pride to young people all over the country," Clinton said. "Each of these young people represents our best future, our best hopes," he said.

Laguna Hills High is the new Orange County Academic Decathlon champion and will represent the county in state competition in Bakersfield in March. Winners of the annual brainpower competition among Orange County high schools were announced Thursday night by the County Department of Education at an awards banquet. Laguna Hills High topped Tustin's Foothill High, a perennially strong contender, for the county championship.

Marco Elliot, a commercial arts teacher at Venice High School, is the author of a how-to guide on street murals, written in French. Elliot, a native of Cannes, France, used his experiences as an artist and teacher to write "Le Pied du Mur." The book describes the mural-making process for everyone from kindergarten children to young adults. It also explains how damaged murals are repaired and details the history of murals.

A scant year ago, Samantha Horwood was ditching classes at Saddleback High School, ducking school police, drinking hard and skipping finals. Today, she will graduate with a 4.0 grade-point average and a slew of awards as valedictorian of her class at Mountain View High in Santa Ana. And when the 17-year-old tells her classmates that "success starts from within," this star competitor may remember that she wasn't always in the running. "I had a fire burning in me," Samantha recalled.