This Sanger school went 11 years without an academic decathlon team; now it’s a national titlist

The Cinderella saga continues for Hallmark Academy’s academic decathlon team, which was resurrected two years ago following an 11-year hiatus when its coach decided to take time to raise her school-aged children.

The Sanger school with a high school enrollment of about 160 home-schooled students captured the Division V championship at the U.S. Academic Decathlon Nationals in Pittsburgh.

That continued the school’s success a month after placing eleventh at the state competition and two months after threatening University High for the Fresno County title.

Angela Ballew, who had stepped aside from coaching Hallmark’s academic decathlon team until returning last year, was shocked at her students’ results at nationals.

“They told me that there have been other home schools that have made it to nationals, but we’re the first home school program actually to win a division at nationals, and it’s a tremendous achievement,” said Ballew, whose team totaled 40,094.5 points. (El Camino Real Charter won with 51,068.4 points).

“I find it hard difficult to put into words how hard these kids work to earn that level of recognition and be top 10 at nationals,” said Ballew.

Students are grouped into honors, scholastic and varsity levels based on a student’s GPA.

Hallmark’s Trisidy Florez and Desirae Gómez captured two firsts in Division V. Teammates Nadia Janigian-Jones, Alexandra Rodríguez, and Alysha Hernández also had first places.

“It was something that I had never really thought was possible for me personally,” said Nadia Janigain-Jones, a junior who competed in the scholastic division. “It just makes me really emotional to look at it and look at all that I’ve accomplished and all my friends have accomplished.”

Jones said it was daunting to be a new team compared to other schools that have competed in AcaDec for years. When Jones and her teammates were told that these other teams had four years of experience, she claimed that working together as a team and relying on each other was why they made it to the top 10.

Some subjects were challenging for the students. Alysha Hernández, a junior who competed in the varsity division, found the essay sections most challenging because they took around 50 minutes. She mentioned she is a perfectionist when writing essays. She worried that she would drag her time down.

“I completely got rid of it and was able to kind of gain control of the time that I have, especially this year,” said Hernández. “I saw myself grow even in my essays when I started writing fuller and fuller ideas, which I would expand into lengthier concepts.”

Jashan Narain, a junior who competed in the honors division, said he felt overwhelmed balancing his assignments from AP Classes and training for AcaDec. In addition, competing against talented and intelligent people from around the country in the honor section is a challenge.

“I keep re-studying everything I’ve learned in classes, and having to balance it out with AcaDec is definitely a challenge, but it has definitely taught me more about balancing and allocating time,” said Narain.

“I’ve had to work extra hard just to ensure that I was at the top level and could at least get recognized for my work.”

“You know, to get to this level and to come from such a small community and bring home a national championship is a very special accomplishment,” said principal Kim Labosky. It really transcends beyond our school’s sight, and it really is a national championship for the city of Sanger.”

University High captures 16th national title

Meanwhile, University High continues its dominance in the small-school Academic Decathlon Nationals by capturing its fourth straight – and 16th since it began competing in the online competition in 2007.

Alexandra Dimitrova was the top individual competitor, and picked up a first in literature.

Daniel Fierro captured six firsts, while Kristian Cagara took two firsts, including a perfect score in the art competition.

Other firsts came from Madeline Hu (two), Albert Wang (two), Cayden Ward, and Mason Hernández.

Brains behind Fresno Co. Academic Decathlon powers University, Hallmark will meet again at state

University High holds off a resurgent Hallmark Academy for Fresno Co. Academic Decathlon title