Danville’s Academic Team small but successful

Published 6:20 am Tuesday, October 23, 2018

By T. OXLEY

Danville High School

Like most high schools, sports are the most popular extracurricular at Danville High School. And while our Forensics Team is also becoming one of the extracurriculars with many members and numerous local and national awards, the Academic Team remains one of the unsung clubs in the school.

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Two prominent members of the Academic Team, Mr. Kremer, the coach, and Eli, the team captain, have answered questions to better understand this small yet highly successful club.

Mr. Kremer is the perfect coach for the Academic Team. He is nerdy, quirky and loves trivia. He coaches for the same reason that he teaches: he wants to give back to his teachers that taught him when he was in school.

Photo by T. Oxley
Team Captain Eli Gooch, dabs on his teammates.

If Kremer is the perfect coach for the team, then Eli Gooch is the perfect captain. He is sociable, laidback and eager to learn. Eli started as captain of the “B Team” during his Freshman year, and became captain of the whole team when the prior captain graduated.

The DHS Academic Team has a history of success, winning three small school national championships, several other top-five finishes (including national runner-up two years ago), state championships against schools of all sizes, 12 of the last 14 overall regional championships, 16 of the last 17 overall district championships, and 14 consecutive district and regional quick recall championships. Kremer says, “The reason why the team is so successful is because of the hard work of the team’s members.”

Despite the hard work and success of the team, it remains a relatively small club, with less than 10 members. Eli thinks it’s fine that the Academic Team is not as popular as other clubs and says he feels, “It is a shame it’s not a bigger group.” He stated that, “I wish that people knew that the Academic Team needs more people.”

Kremer, like everyone else on the Team, is unsure of how to attract new members, given that many students have academic demands, as well as one or two clubs.

Looking forward, the DHS Academic Team hopes to continue to improve and dominate competitions. Specifically, Eli wants to work on improving the team in the science and music categories. While the team may remain one of the smallest extracurriculars in the school, it certainly will continue to make the Ads proud of their hard work and success.

T. Oxley is a 10th-grade journalism student at Danville High School.