Albuquerque Academy - Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular activities are an important part of the Academy experience. Some of the larger activities include many state championship sports teams, The Advocate (a student newsmagazine that has received numerous awards from the Albuquerque Tribune and the New Mexico Press Women), Science Olympiad, Science Bowl, and theater. Students are able to submit proposals to the 10-12 Student Senate to create a new club or activity, which nearly always approves activities.

The Academy sponsors a guitar quartet, an outgrowth of its renowned guitar program, which is prominent in the local music community.

The three longest sports state championship streaks by Academy sports teams are the 6-Peat Boys Basketball team (1989–1994) led by Coach Mike Brown, the 10-time state champion Boys Tennis Team (2003–present), and the 6-time state champion Boys Track team (2002–2007) led by Coach Adam Kedge.

Coach Kedge, also the ninth grade chemistry and physics teacher, has also led the Boys Cross Country team to Nike Cross Nationals (formerly Nike Team Nationals) five out of the six years it has been in existence, most notably to a third place finish in 2007 and a fifth place finish in 2009.

The school's mock trial team won the 2012 National High School Mock Trial Championship in May 2012, marking the first time a New Mexican team had won the title, and the first time a team from the host state had won. The program has been consistently successful, qualifying at least one team for state competition every year since the program was rebooted in 2005. The 2012 national champion team was the second Academy team in a row to qualify for nationals.

In May 2010, the school's team won the US DOE Middle School Science Bowl competition in Washington, DC. The team members were Andy Chen, Jason Frank Hou, Ben Zolyomi, Eric Li (team captain), and Raya Koreh (official alternate)... Previous Academy Science Bowl teams had finished second (in 2006) and fourth (in 2009).

In the spring of 2006, the orchestra, called the Chamber Players, was invited to attend the National Orchestra Festival in Kansas City, Missouri, where they received a superior rating.

In addition to these optional extracurricular activities, all students at the Academy spend the final month of their senior year doing a "senior project," which is the culmination of the experiential education part of the curriculum. A senior project is usually an off-campus internship with a community sponsor; it can also be on-campus work with a faculty mentor, participation in a seminar, or it can be a completely self-directed project.

The Academy also offers a summer school program, which has a variety of classes including language, science, and art. The summer program usually runs from early June to mid-July, lasting 6 weeks (with a vacation for Independence Day). In addition to the academic offerings, the summer program includes a traditional summer camp and athletic and aquatic camps.

Speech and Debate is one among many high caliber extracurricular activities at Albuquerque Academy. The Albuquerque Academy style of Original Oratory is popular on the National Speech and Debate circuit, brought about by 2001 champion Yasmin Mashhoon and coach Randy McCutcheon. At the 2009 State Speech and Debate Tournament, Albuquerque Academy had five state champions, as well as winning Speech Sweepstakes, Debate Sweepstakes, and Debate Coach of the Year (Susan Ontiveros). The Speech and Debate team had held the state title for 24 straight years by 2010(taking Speech Sweepstakes, Debate Sweepstakes, and having many state champions.)