El Camino Real Charter High School students took a short break from class Monday morning, May 5, to cheer on a championship team that continues to make history.

The rally celebrated the school’s nine-member team, which outscored schools nationwide to claim the 2025 U.S. Academic Decathlon National Championship, held May 1-3 in Des Moines, Iowa. The victory marks the Woodland Hills school’s third straight national title — and 11th overall, the most of any school in the nation.

Cheers erupted from the packed bleachers as team members were introduced one by one by Head Coach Stephanie Franklin, each walking between two lines of cheerleaders waving golden pom poms. Some students clapped and called out names, while others leaned forward, craning for a better view.

Among the students recognized at the rally was Brendan Luna, a senior who earned the distinction of being the highest-scoring student in the nation.

Luna said he felt nervous leading up to the announcement, knowing how much time and effort his teammates had poured into preparing for the competition.

“But by the time it came, I was just overwhelmed with joy,” Luna said. “I know that all of us work so hard to get to where we got to, and I was so happy for all of my teammates, including myself. I know that all of us were overjoyed by the results.”

For Luna, the experience wasn’t just about winning, but about learning and growing as part of a close-knit team. Before the state competition this year on March 20-23 in Santa Clara, one of his teammates stayed up late to help him rehearse for the interview portion of the contest.

“He took time out of his own time to study, to help calm me down and help me get ready for the event,” he said. “That meant so much to me.”

Beyond the medals, Luna said the biggest reward was the sense of community the team built.

“Now I know what it’s like to be part of a team and part of a big family like this, and how we can all work together to achieve a common goal and support each other,” he said.

This year’s team included Ashley Acosta, Enoch Chan, Darren Du, Bahar Mirzajanzadeh, Yash Singhal, Emily Simms, Leanne Warren and Zarah Zuhair.

Together they scored a total of 52,987.3—winning the National Championship by 1,013 points and earning 34 individual medals.

As a sophomore, Leanne Warren transferred to El Camino Real Charter High where the school’s longtime Decathlon coach Stephanie Franklin—who had been Warren’s English teacher for three years – encouraged her to join the team.

She recalls Franklin telling her, “I have a ‘black jacket’ for you, so try to come on the team,” a reference to the team members’ uniform. Warren said the coach “provided me with the foundation to want to do something bigger.”

Seeing the team’s success year after year helped her picture herself as part of it. She tried out as a sophomore but didn’t make the team. Undeterred, she tried again–and earned her spot.

Warren, who plans to study microbiology with a pre-med focus at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, said the Decathlon gave her more than academic growth—it helped her push through challenges and set higher goals.

“It was something that was going to be challenging, but would also have this reward of (being in) a family, in a community, and classes that really challenged me like no other before,” she said. “So that is why I wanted that fulfillment.”

That sense of fulfillment, challenge and community is exactly what Decathlon coach Franklin hopes students take away from the program.

“It’s really great to see all their hard work paid off, because these kids just give everything, and they also risk everything, especially when you’re so young,” said Franklin, who is in her 17th year coaching the program. “For them, they become the face of the school.”

The Academic Decathlon is a rigorous nationwide educational competition designed for high school students of all academic achievement levels.

Each year, the United States Academic Decathlon selects a central theme that is integrated across six subject areas: art, economics, literature, music, science and social science.

Students compete in 10 events, including an essay, interview, prepared speech, knowledge tests, and the Super Quiz— a fast-paced team event held in front of a live audience. Teams advance through regional and state competitions before reaching the national level.

For Franklin, one of the most rewarding moments comes at the awards ceremony.

“It’s just a feeling of joy when they hear their names called, and we hear ‘California,’ and they just kind of jumped up in excitement,” she said. “I feel that same excitement with them.”

Franklin said the program challenges students in ways few other experiences do.

“It teaches them that they had an untapped potential that most teachers and even themselves overlooked,” Franklin said. “Once they do this program, they’re never going to be the same.”