Counselors Mrs.Laurie Tristan and Ms. Christine Silva have been gathering students since October for the annual pentathlon competition.  They already have 27 student participants: nine sixth graders, nine seventh graders, and nine eighth graders. The annual Pentathlon competition will be held at Bolsa Grande High School in Garden Grove, California in the Spring.

Pentathlon is a national academic competition with students competing in five rounds with a variety of topics.  There are no specific criteria to enter in this event.  According to Tristan, all students are welcomed, whether they are in sixth grade with straight A’s or an eighth grader with mixed grades.  Meetings are held for the team, and they must do their homework and study to prepare for the competition.  The students must go against other schools within the Orange County and Los Angeles area.

Pentathlon began early November of 2016, and the final competition will be on March 18.  The five topics that the students must compete in are Math, Fine Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts.  Tristan said, “This is my favorite thing to teach to students”.

In this year’s competition the students must know their facts about World War ll because they will have to answer questions to that specific topic.  They also had to read Number the Stars by Louis Lowry.  

Pentathlon has been taking place throughout many schools all over the world for decades.  If the students succeed, they will have a chance to represent MacArthur Intermediate School and they will receive a medal for succeeding the Pentathlon.  Tristan said, “ I love seeing the kids reaction when and if we win”.