Roberts/Caperton Inspiration Award

2024 Roberts/Caperton Inspiration Award winner Ashley Stevens with her Coach, Megan Kinder Smith. 2024 Roberts/Caperton Inspiration Award winner Benjamin Chicoria.

Does your team include a decathlete who has overcome great challenges and has inspired others?   See below how the USAD "village" can honor those accomplishments.

The Roberts/Caperton Inspiration Award was established by the United States Academic Decathlon Board of Directors to honor two Board members. Both individuals demonstrated great commitment and dedication to the Academic Decathlon, even during difficult years of their personal lifetimes. This award is presented to student decathletes at any level or category of competition who demonstrates a high degree of dedication, strength of character, team leadership, perseverance and commitment while overcoming significant obstacles or unusual circumstances to participate in the United States Academic Decathlon. The Board welcomes nominations from USAD coaches during the course of each competition year, and appropriate public recognition will be determined for the most deserving nominees.

Kristin Caperton created the award in 1984 to recognize student decathletes who demonstrate a high degree of dedication, strength of character, team leadership, and perseverance while overcoming significant obstacles or unusual circumstances in their lives. She continued to work on funding for the Decathlon securing funding even while she was hospitalized with an illness that eventually took her life.

Suzanne Roberts served as a Board member for many years and assumed oversight of the award upon the passing of Kristin Caperton. Suzanne provided leadership in advertising the award and ensuring continual financial support for it for over three decades.  She did so even as she battled a terminal illness during the last years of her life. Consequently, it seemed very fitting for the Board to rename the award the Roberts-Caperton Award in 2023 in recognition of the strength of character, leadership, and perseverance of both women who were very dedicated to honoring exceptional student decathletes.

Often the winner has been an important catalyst in her or his team's strong performance during the USAD competition. Some winners have successes in USAD despite significant physical and/or emotional challenges.  Meeting these courageous students who have overcome blindness, deafness, and debilitating or terminal illnesses, has been an inspirational aspect of the competition.  The first recipient set a high standard. An alternate on the Louisiana team, he walked door to door to raise money for his teammates to travel to Nationals---in a full body cast on crutches! Some examples of previous winners include the following:

1. A blind decathlete successfully competed and, in the process, pioneered techniques allowing other students to do so.

2. A student with Stage 3 Hodgkin's Lymphoma disease remained devoted to the USAD while undergoing aggressive chemotherapy.

3. Both winners one year were foster children, and both were feted at the banquet thanks to the coach providing transportation.

4. Despite severe visual problems from juvenile macular degeneration, a student was the highest scorer overall in the small school honor category.

5. A disadvantaged decathlete overcame homelessness, abuse, neglect, and life-threatening medical problems to become the rock of his team. He expressed his joy by doing cartwheels in the hotel lobby.

6. Even with a pathological speech disorder, a participant was selected for speech showcase.  She presented the award to another Roberts/Caperton winner in a subsequent year with a flawless delivery.  She is now a lawyer with the Department of Education's disability unit.

Testimonials: 

Recipient: Ashley Stevens - Herbert Hoover High School, IA
Coach: Megan Kinder Smith

Academic Decathlon has been one of my favorite activities from all of high school. It allowed me to form new connections within and beyond my school, and now national recognitions. Even though this past year has been difficult for me, Academic Decathlon allowed me to feel like a regular high school student. I am forever greatful for these experiences, and I hope to one day find my way back to Academic Decathlon, whether it be judging or more. 

Recipient: Benjamin Chicoria - Robert Turner High School, TX
Coach: Kyla Mora
 
Academic Decathlon has been a wonderful experience for me. I remember when I was younger and before I developed the medical problems that I have today, I always wanted to go into sports in high school and be on the football team. Once my medical problems started, I realized that was no longer life for me. I am truly thankful for Academic Decathlon because it allowed me to still be competitive, without being bound by my body’s physical limitations. I was overjoyed at being able to earn a letter jacket through ACADEC once my medical issues made it impossible for me to letter in sports. 
 
I am also grateful to ACADEC for shaping me into a more well-rounded individual. Recently, I was part of an industry career day where I was interviewed by four prospective employers. I wasn’t as nervous as I would have been without being trained for impromptu speeches and interviews. I was credited by the companies who offered me employment for how I had conducted myself in their sessions. Later, I was asked to give a speech to the community about my school district’s mentoring program. I credit ACADEC for having the skills and confidence to do so in front of 300 people, several of whom praised me for being an articulate and engaging speaker. I will always thank my coaches, teammates, and the Academic Decathlon program for all of the wonderful skills, lessons, advice, and suggestions they have given me.
 
In addition to the prestige, the award includes a plaque and $1,500 from the USAD Board of Directors. To nominate a decathlete, coaches should complete a nomination form by clicking on the link below and submitting that form to awards@usad.org by the deadline.

 
Kristin Caperton                        Suzanne Roberts
Founder, USAD                         Founder, USAD
                                                  

NOMINATION FORM