Before class started, juniors Johnny Waugh and Erin Long ran through the halls, screaming in disappointment. Academic Decathlon sponsor John Davis sulked at his desk trying to figure out how he could help during what he described as “one of his toughest days.”
A representative from the United States Academic Decathlon Organization notified Mr. Davis that the Academic Decathlon team would not be attending the state competition despite their previous invitation. An unknown accounting error was found a day after the team had been told they qualified and listed on the organization’s website.
“It was an honest mistake,” Mr. Davis said. “But it was cruel to have so much time to tell everyone that you’re going and then suddenly you’re not.”
During the regional meet at Arlington Martin High School, the Legacy Acadec team came in second. However, the Academic Decathlon organization forgot to factor in one of the Texas regions and this region took the place of Legacy. When the team was told the news in class, they ran to co-sponsor Jeri Bordelon’s room and proceeded to share their disappointment and tears.
“The representative was so insincere,” junior Erin Long said. “The blow would have been so much softer if he had apologized. We had something and they ripped it away from us.”
Legacy’s Acadec team was not the only victim of this mistake. Plano High School was also publicized as a qualifier on the organization’s website but told they were not invited anymore. Mrs. Bordelon spent her day refuting the teams’ denials and convinced the representative to allow the team to participate in the San Antonio competition.
“I think they realized it was the only right thing to do,” Mrs. Bordelon said.
As the news of their invitation to the San Antonio meet spread to the rest of the team, it was met with screams and cheers of happiness at senior Kyle Rodney’s lunch table. Rodney spent his four years at Legacy coming close to six state recognitions in band and Acadec but never qualified.
“This was the last chance I had to make state,” Rodney said. “There was a sense of individual accomplishment when it was finally confirmed.”
Now they have another chance, and the team plans to study even harder than they did for the regional meet. They have three weeks to prepare.
“We already proved it to ourselves,” junior Breton Hawkins said. “We have to prove to them that we belong there, and we’re going to kick butt.”