LOS ANGELES - On Reseda High School's Academic Decathlon team, the student who does best on the art tests is blind.

Heather Bandy, 15, of West Hills, who was born blind, said she joined the team for the same reason she takes the more academically rigorous magnet classes at Reseda: She wanted a challenge.

"It's not just one person who likes to study a lot," Bandy said. "I've always thought it would be cool to have a team that was about academics, not athletics, and here it is."

While other students pore over printed materials in the seven subjects of Art, Economics, Language and Literature, Mathematics, Music, Science and the Super Quiz, which is based on the Lewis and Clark expedition, Heather reads her copies in Braille.

Her mother, Amanda, scans the material into a computer, edits it and then uses another program to convert the words into the raised print her daughter can read.

And although Heather cannot see the paintings or sculptures, she can read the detailed descriptions of the art works in the Academic Decathlon study guides.

"I think it's wonderful," Amanda Bandy said. "This gives her a chance to bond with some of the students, and it's been incredible for her. The kids are wonderful with her; she's one of the group."

Her team members agreed.

Deep Bhatt, 17, of Canoga Park, said Bandy was very competitive. "She makes you want to do your best. If you think it's tough for you, imagine how hard it is for her."

"She just brings an amazing sense of optimism to our team," added Marc Castaneda, 16, of Sylmar.

Heather, who hopes to attend Brigham Young University and teach high school Spanish, said her favorite subjects are art and music. Because she has never seen colors, "I make it more conceptualized: white is like paper or snow, green is like grass."

Rochelle Kronstadt, Reseda's coach, said that, on a recent trip the students took to Washington, D.C., Heather was allowed to touch some stuffed birds and some sculptures at the Smithsonian, including "The Last of the Tribe" by Hiram Powers, which depicts a running Indian maiden.

"I loved it," Bandy said. "It was incredible! I got to feel our sculpture. It's huge and so detailed! I could feel everything, every finger, her skirt, every detail."

"It's really a wonderful experience for all of us," Kronstadt said. "It's made all of us more aware of verbal communication."

For example, when the team was working on speeches, one member said, "Oh, you do this," made a gesture, then realized that Heather couldn't see the gesture he made.

While LAUSD has had other students with some sort of visual impairment compete in the Academic Decathlon before, Heather is thought to be the first completely blind student to compete in the district's 23-year history, said Cliff Ker, Academic Decathlon coordinator for LAUSD.

And if Reseda wins the regional competition - it placed seventh out of 55 teams in practice scrimmage - and then wins the state competition, she may be the first blind student in national competition.

But for now, Heather and her teammates are just focusing on preparing for regional meets in February.

"We're here every day from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.," Bhatt said, studying with his teammates on the day before Thanksgiving. "We haven't started weekends yet, but …"

"Not every student can do this, and not many are going to fit in as (Bandy) does," Kronstadt said.

"She perseveres and does what it takes," Kronstadt said. "She doesn't make any excuses for herself. She doesn't have a disability as far as she's concerned."