DemiDec

History

In the 1980s and 1990s, the United States Academic Decathlon had few third-party companies that wrote study materials for students, and individual teams had to do most of the research themselves. Daniel Berdichevsky had been part of the Taft High School Academic Decathlon in the 1992–1993 season, but had dropped out because he was "too scared of giving a speech". Despite this, Berdichevsky became team captain for the 1993–94 season. Berdichevsky and his teammates would go on to win the United States Academic Decathlon National Championship that year with the help of their coach, Dr. Berchin, who had also led a team to victory in 1989. Earlier that year, Berdichevsky had set an individual scoring record at the Los Angeles City competition that would remain unbroken until the 2007–08 season, when Isabel Salovaara from Whitney Young High School in Illinois earned 9,300 points to beat Berdichevsky's record by a mere three points.

Six weeks after the competition, Berdichevsky and teammate Andrew Salter started creating guides and examinations for the next season. Their first year's product was very small, and was criticized for its errors, though it earned the two almost $20,000 in 5 months. However, when their old coach Dr. Berchin joined them the following year, DemiDec gained more stability and decided to continue with the venture in the future. During the following two years, the company changed structure to its current one; it began to rely heavily on "a network of former Decathletes, curriculum experts and experienced writers" to create a study course that included both study guides and practice examinations. In 1998, DemiDec nearly merged with USAD, but for an unknown reason, did not. Since then, the company has consistently come out with a variety of material for Academic Decathlon, including "Resource Guides", "Power Guides", flashcards, quizzes, and sequenced examinations. The materials are generally released in the summer, after having been seen by "Beta testers" – usually current or former Academic Decathletes.

World Scholar's Cup

In 2006, Berdichevsky, citing disappointment that Academic Decathlon ended at just a national level (United States Academic Decathlon has offered International Programs since 2013) in a rapidly more interconnected world, created the World Scholar's Cup. Though the World Scholar's Cup is based on the Academic Decathlon, it follows a different format. Instead of ten subjects like the Academic Decathlon, the World Scholar's Cup includes only six subjects: science, history, literature, art and music, social studies, and a special area, of which three of those events are based on a different yearly theme. At the competition, students participate in four events that encompass all six subjects: a curriculum-based debate, an essay, a multiple choice test and the "Scholar's Bowl", a live tournament where team members may answer questions together. Teams generally consist of either two or three students and may represent either their school, multiple schools, or even countries; this policy further sets World Scholar's Cup apart from Academic Decathlon where six to nine students represent a single school. The culmination of the annual competition is held in one of the competing countries, of which there are currently 20. Companies that sponsor the World Scholar's Cup aside from DemiDec are FunnelBrain and iClicker

Study Academies

DemiDec also operates a number of "DemiDec Academies" in South Korea. The programs prepare students for variety of subjects, but focus on SAT Preparation for Korean students interested in studying in America.