The school’s academic decathlon team finished fourth at the 2012 Texas Academic Decathlon State Finals in the small school division but fell just short of qualifying for the national finals.

According to some decathlon sponsors, the events serves as an excellent opportunity for students to gain knowledge and life skills.

“Decathletes all know the essentials for college success: self-discipline, time-management, goal-setting, priorities, and intensive effort,” Pearland ISD Director of Advanced Academics Margo Gigee said to the Pearland Journal.

The competition’s ten events: Math, Music, Economics, Art, Language/Literature, Social Science, the science-related Super Quiz, Essay, Interview, and Speeches, all corresponded with this year’s theme, “The Age of Imperialism”.

The official website of the Texas Academic Decathlon describes the event as a program that provides high school students the opportunity to experience the challenges of rigorous academic competition through participation in team activities. Each team is designed to include students of three academic levels based on their GPAs – the Honor, Scholastic, and Varsity levels.

Each year, the state provides more than $150,000 in scholarship money, and is described as the only academic competition to award scholarships to “C” students.