Academic Competitions

Academic Decathlon

The Academic Decathlon is an educational competition for high school students of all academic achievement levels. Each year, the United States Academic Decathlon selects a theme of study. Students are assessed in art, mathematics, music, literature, economics, science, and social science related to the annual theme. LA Unified high school teams have the opportunity to compete at the regional level, with selected teams potentially advancing to state and national competitions.

Academic Pentathlon

The Academic Pentathlon is an educational competition for middle school students of all academic achievement levels. Following the same theme as the high school Academic Decathlon, Pentathletes are assessed in five areas: fine arts (including art and music), mathematics, literature (including essay writing), science, and social science. LA Unified middle school teams can compete at the regional level, with the opportunity for selected teams to advance to state and national competitions.

CyberPatriot

CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air & Space Forces Association (AFA) to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity and other STEM disciplines. A key component is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, where teams of five students work through competition rounds. Students are given virtual operating systems and must find and fix cybersecurity vulnerabilities while maintaining critical services. The top teams in the nation are invited to the National Finals Competition.

Do the Write Thing

Do the Write Thing is a writing initiative aimed at addressing and preventing youth violence. Students submit essays, poetry, and other literary works to become ambassadors for violence prevention. Two students are selected to serve as Los Angeles Ambassadors and represent the city in Washington, DC.

Spelling Bee

The YS Spelling Bee features unique team and individual competitions. Students represent their schools, striving to earn points to win the team trophy. During the event, the best spellers are identified and compete in a spell-off to ultimately crown a Spelling Bee champion.

STEMYS

STEMYS (pronounced STEM-EEZ) is a collaborative competition focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Students from each YS PLUS site form teams to represent their school in an Olympic-style tournament. Utilizing methods such as the engineering design process, teams compete using catapults, bridges, cars, and more to determine the YS PLUS STEMYS champion.