Team/District Registration

TO: Georgia Academic Decathlon Coordinators and Coaches
FROM: Ruth Cowan
DATE: June 2006
SUBJECT: PAGE Georgia Academic Decathlon 2006-2007

We hope that your school district plans to participate in PAGE Georgia Academic Decathlon (GAD) this coming school year. While prices of everything else are going up, the registration fee for GAD remains at $200 per school district. (This fee covers: registration with United States Academic Decathlon, official tests, registration for the Coaches’ Workshop and registration for the State Competition.) Please process your Registration Form for participating in the 2006 Academic Decathlon by October 16, 2006. No refund can be given to a school/district withdrawing after October 30, 2006.

COACHES’ WORKSHOP : The annual Academic Decathlon Coaches’ Workshop will be at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Macon on Friday, August 25, 2006. Registration information and forms for this workshop will be sent to you in a future mailing; however, we encourage coaches and district-level coordinators to mark your calendars now and reserve this workshop date so that you can be sure to attend. Holiday Inn is holding a block of rooms for this event until August 10, 2006. If you plan to stay overnight, please make your room reservation by this deadline date. Room rates are $60.00. The deadline for registering for this workshop is August 18, 2006.

PLEASE NOTE : Information about Academic Decathlon, the curriculum topics for 2006-2007, and how to order curriculum materials can be found on the PAGE Foundation website: www.pagefounation.org and on the United State Academic Decathlon website www.usad.org. You are encouraged to check these websites often for information and links to information about Academic Decathlon and related topics. Enclosed is an annotated topical outline of the 2006-2007 curriculum. This curriculum looks very exciting and we hope that you will encourage your school administrator to continue offering this learning opportunity to your students.

The decathlon calendar for 2006-2007 is enclosed. Please mark dates that relate to you and your team (e.g., test windows, Wild Card deadlines dates, state competition, etc.).

TEST ORDER FORM: The deadline for returning the enclosed Test Order Form is October 16, 2006. If you wish, this form may be turned in at the Coaches’ Workshop at the Macon Holliday Inn Conference Center on Friday, August 25 th.

USAD 2006-2007 CURRICULUM: The USAD Study Guide for 2007 is now available. A copy will be mailed to each participating school along with confirmation of your registration once we receive your district’s registration form. The deadline for registering is October 16 th. Registration information has also been mailed to each high school principal and each school district superintendent.

Please check the USAD website (www.usad.org) for a complete listing of curriculum materials. Curriculum materials orders are being filled now if you pre-ordered your curriculum materials. If you have not ordered your curriculum materials as yet, you should do so right away. Check the USAD website for information regarding curriculum updates and corrections. Check the PAGE Foundation website and click on “GAD” for information about the PAGE GAD 2006-2007 academic year.

ACADEMIC ELECTIVE: Each year a few more schools and school districts are able to offer the Academic Decathlon curriculum through an academic elective course. This mailing includes an information sheet about offering Academic Decathlon as an academic elective in your school and/or district. This is a rich and challenging curriculum that should be made available to a larger group of students than the nine students that typically make up your GAD team. With the curriculum theme “China and Its Influence on the World” and the Super Quiz topic that focuses on “An Introduction to Climatology,” there is an academic elective course that would be a natural place to offer this year’s Academic Decathlon curriculum. They are:

45.07200 Asian Studies

Offering the decathlon curriculum through this course would provide an opportunity for a class of students to be exposed to this challenging curriculum. If you do not already offer such a course, I hope you will consider making this opportunity available to your students.

IN THIS MAILING: Included in this mailing are:

  1. 2006-2007 PAGE Georgia Academic Decathlon calendar
  2. GAD District registration form (also mailed to high school principals and district superintendents)
  3. Test Order Form
  4. Annotated curriculum topical outline and Essential Information to Coaches

If you have questions regarding GAD, please call Michelle Crawford or me. Michelle can be reached at 1.800.334.6861 or 770.216.8555. I can be reached at any of the numbers, or email address, listed in the box at the top of this memorandum.

I am looking forward to working with you again during the 2006-2007 academic year and hope to see all coaches and district-level coordinators at the workshop on August 25 th. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy a relaxing summer break and that the beginning of school year 2006-2007 is productive and smooth.

Ruth S. Cowan, GAD State Director
482 River Bend Rd., Cleveland, GA 30528
Phone and Fax: (706) 219-1366
Email: rscowan@aol.com