Los Banos Unified School District Earns First Place at Merced County Academic Pentathlon

Top students and teams of the Merced County Academic Pentathlon were announced during the awards ceremony held at the Merced Theatre, following the Super Quiz portion of the competition on April 18.

Grasslands Elementary and Los Banos Junior High emerged as the overall top scoring teams, with Danika Vou, a 6th grader from Grasslands Elementary, as the overall top scoring student.

In addition to the top scoring teams and students, the awards ceremony also revealed the top scores of the Super Quiz, with Grasslands, Le Grand and Peggy Heller earning first place for their respective grade levels.

This year’s competition brought together nearly 450 middle school students from schools across the county to showcase their knowledge in five subject areas, including fine arts, literature, math, science and social science. 

Students began the competition with a series of tests in each subject area at their school sites and then moved on to the Super Quiz, which requires students to work together in teams to answer as many questions as possible within the allotted time. 

Organized by the Merced County Office of Education, the Academic Pentathlon is an annual event designed to encourage and recognize academic excellence among students within the county. Materials are centered around a national theme provided by the United States Academic Decathlon. This year’s theme was "The Roaring Twenties.”