A candid moment with Hoover students competing in the state academic decathlon at Urbandale High School.

For the second year in a row, Hoover High School will represent Iowa and DMPS in the U.S. Academic Decathlon Online National Competition as the state’s medium sized school!

Over the weekend, during the 38th Iowa Academic Decathlon State Competition, Hoover, East, and Lincoln did very well.  Hoover student Sebastian Schmolck was the second highest scoring student overall in the Varsity Division.

The top scoring schools from around the state are invited to compete, and this year’s competition included 209 high school students competing for medals and trophies. As the name implies, the competition has ten events: art, economics, essay, interview, literature, math, music, science, social science, and speech.

Three of the five DMPS high schools competed this weekend: East, coached by Brian Koch; Hoover, coached by Megan Kinder-Smith; and Lincoln, coached by Sandra Laugk and Daniel Nizzi.

Awards were earned by DMPS students in eight out of the ten categories:

Economics:
Sebastian Schmolck, Hoover, First Place Varsity Division
Carmela Davidson, Hoover, Third Place Varsity Division

Essay:
Sebastian Schmolck, Hoover, Third Place Varsity Division

Interview:
Isabella Moyer, Lincoln, Second Place Honor Division
Alison De Luna, Hoover, Second Place Scholastic Division
Aidan Jones, Hoover, Third Place Scholastic Division
Aaliyah McGee, Lincoln, Third Place Varsity Division

Literature:
Sebastian Schmolck, Hoover, First Place Varsity Division

Math:
Sebastian Schmolck, Hoover, First Place Varsity Division
Carmela Davidson, Hoover, Second Place Varsity Division

Music:
Charles Roff, Hoover, Third Place Varsity Division
Sebastian Schmolck, Hoover, Third Place Varsity Division

Science:
Owen Comiskey, Lincoln, Second Place Honor Division

Speech:
Aidan Jones, Hoover, Second Place Scholastic Division
Karlie Flam, East, Third Place Scholastic Division
Aaliyah McGee, Lincoln, Third Place Varsity Division
Charles Roff, Hoover, Third Place Varsity Division

Something else to look forward to — DMPS will host the National Academic Decathlon Competition in 2025!