6 Dallas ISD middle schools ranked among the top 20 in state Academic Pentathlon Competition

Which two organisms can be too contaminated to eat frequently and safely due to concentrations of mercury?

If you knew the answer was “tuna and shellfish,” you probably could have fared well testing your wits in the Texas Academic Pentathlon Super Quiz alongside 43 Dallas ISD middle school teams that competed in early April for regional and state rankings. Each year the competition has a new theme and, if you did not guess from the question, this year’s theme was “Water: A Most Essential Resource.”

After months of studying this year’s topic in math, science, social studies, literature, and fine arts, several Dallas ISD teams placed in the top 20 out of 147 teams in the state. On April 9, 276 students from 23 schools showed up at Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy to compete in this year’s Academic Pentathlon Region V contest. In the seventh-grade division, Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership Academy placed first in the regional competition and eighth in the statewide ranking. For the eighth-grade division, J.L. Long Middle School placed first in regionals and came in 16th in the state overall.

Academic Pentathlon is the middle child of its two sibling contests: Academic Decathlon for high school students and Lone Star Challenge for elementary schools. In Pentathlon, teams are competitively tested in five subject areas followed by a team Super Quiz which is likened to an intelligence showdown. The Super Quiz combines all the subject areas in three rounds of questions. Each team is made up of nine students based on their grade point average.

“After a long day of testing, there is no shortage of excitement and tension during Super Quiz,” said Shenita Jones, coordinator of the Student Activities Department. “Students love working together as a team to answer questions collaboratively.”

Here are the Dallas ISD Region V & State Pentathlon Highlights: