Competing in the challenging National Geographic Geography Bee on Friday, December 19 were (L-R, front) Kestrel Pollock, Geography Bee Champion Jack Peck, Adam Dorr, Levi Sheils, Thomas SwanSon. (L-R, back) Hazel Oberholtzer, Dillon Sjogren, Ethan Sporn, Genevieve Neuwirth, Leif Anderson.
Students, teachers, parents and community members gathered in the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on Friday, December 19 for the 2014 Geography Bee. Ten students were seated on stage, ready to take on the Geography Bee questions after earning top scores in classroom testing.
On stage were 6th grader Hazel Oberholtzer; 7th graders Adam Dorr, Kestrel Pollock; and 8th graders Dillon Sjogren, Ethan Sporn, Genevieve Neuwirth, Leif Anderson, Jack Peck, Levi Sheils, and Thomas SwanSon.
Principal Adam Nelson read the questions, which the students answered verbally or by writing on a white note board. There were several rounds of questions before any of the competitors were eliminated.
After several wrong answers to a question about where the Adirondack Mountains are located (New York), Hazel Oberholtzer offered the correct answer. When Principal Nelson said her answer was correct, she gave a relieved smile as competition continued.
All of the students knew that A Dolphin Tale, a movie about a bottle nose dolphin that was injured when it was caught in a crab trap, was set in the Atlantic state of Florida.
Several questions required use of maps provided to the students. Some questions had ties to the economy, such as what state is the leading producer of rice (Arkansas) and which is the leading producer of potatoes (Idaho). Others had historical connections, such as what U.S. state was the first to give women the right to vote (Wyoming).
Principal Nelson struggled with pronunciation in a question asking where the Castillo San Felipe del Morro, a 16th-century citadel was located. Students did not know that the answer was San Juan, Puerto Rico. Nelson said, “Don’t feel bad, I didn’t know that one either.”
Middle School Teacher Dorie Carlson, organizer of the Geography Bee quipped, “You couldn’t even pronounce it!”
The questions got harder and harder and finally it was Jack Peck, Adam Dorr, Ethan Sporn, Hazel Oberholtzer and Kestrel Pollock battling for the championship. A few more questions narrowed the event and Kestrel Pollock claimed third place.
In the final round were Jack Peck and Adam Dorr who both knew that Jack London’s classic novel Call of the Wild was set in the Yukon in Canada. Neither of them knew the name of the country where National Geographic explorer Shivani Bhalla worked to protect the lions of Sambura—Kenya.
Finally, the Geography Bee came down to which student knew the name of the Mediterranean county located at the south end of the Balkan Peninsula that is Europe’s largest exporter of cotton. Jack Peck knew the answer was Greece and he was pronounced the winner of the National Geographic Geography Bee.
Thanks to the Cook County Schools PTA, Jack received $25 cash. Second place finisher (who finished in first place in 2013) Adam Dorr received $15 and Kestrel Pollock, in third received $10.
Peck now takes another test to see if he advances to the state competition in St. Cloud in April.
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