Mendon-Upton Regional School District

MENDON — Superintendent Dr. Maureen Cohen and Nipmuc Regional High School Co-Principals John Clements and Mary Anne Moran are pleased to share that the Nipmuc Regional High School Academic Decathlon Team earned national recognition during its first-ever appearance at the United States Academic Decathlon National Finals held in Garden Grove, California.

Competing against schools from across the country during the April 23-25 national competition, Nipmuc placed seventh overall in Division III and earned the Rookie Team of the Year award in its debut season competing at the national level.

Academic Decathlon is a nationwide academic competition that challenges students across 10 disciplines, including economics, literature, science, art, music, mathematics, social science, interview, speech and essay writing. The program is designed to expose students to diverse academic content while building public speaking, teamwork, collaboration and interpersonal skills.

According to the Massachusetts Academic Decathlon organization, Nipmuc and Acton-Boxborough Regional High School were the only two schools that represented Massachusetts at the 2026 national finals in California.

In addition to Rookie Team of the Year award, several Nipmuc students earned individual honors during the national competition. As part of Academic Decathlon, each team typically consists of nine students, individually categorized into one of three groups based on their grade point averages: Honor, Scholastic and Varsity.

In the Varsity category, Benjamin Rojano won silver medals in Art, Literature and Science, along with a gold medal in Economics, becoming National Champion in Economics.

In the Scholastic category, Kam Getman won bronze medals in Music and Art. Getman also earned the title of Nipmuc’s Highest-Scoring Decathlete and was voted the team’s Most Valuable Player by teammates, earning a total of $500 in cash scholarships.

In the Honors category, Parker Teatreault won a bronze medal in Science, becoming Nipmuc’s first decathlete to score more than 900 points in a single objective event.

Also in the Honors category, Max Labonte earned the highest Economics score in the country, receiving a gold medal and title of National Champion in Economics.

Students Liam Flanagan, Mason Monty and Ryan Poirier also earned Top 10 finishes in at least one event, helping propel Nipmuc to its Top 7 national finish and Rookie Team of the Year honors.

In addition to competing during the California trip for Academic Decathlon, students had the opportunity to visit several famous Hollywood sites and the chance to meet like-minded students from all around the country.

“This team embraced every challenge that came with this competition and had a lot of fun during this trip,” said Nipmuc teacher and Academic Decathlon advisor J.J. Borja. "While competing at the national level, these students represented Nipmuc with tremendous pride, effort and determination. To earn Rookie Team of the Year and finish seventh in the nation was a great accomplishment. We are very proud of our Academic Decathlon competitors."

Co-Principals Clements and Moran and Superintendent Cohen congratulated the students and advisor J.J. Borja for the team’s successful inaugural season and an outstanding national performance.

“These students demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to academic excellence on a competitive level,” said Co-Principals Clements. "To have a team of students that represent Nipmuc in the field of academic competition is a great source of pride. We hope that our Nipmuc Academic Decathlon team will continue to flourish in the future."

“We are incredibly proud of the way our Academic Decathlon competitors represented Nipmuc on the national stage," said Co-Principal Moran. "This was a great accomplishment, and we look forward to seeing more Nipmuc students get involved with Academic Decathlon in future seasons."

“The accomplishments of this team reflect not only their hard work and talent, but also the strength of the learning opportunities available to our students at Nipmuc,” said Superintendent Cohen. “We congratulate all of the students and Mr. Borja on an outstanding first season and an unforgettable trip to compete on the national stage in the field of academics."