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COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy
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| Foothill Country Day School 6th grader Joshua Vincent is hoping to advance to the National Geographic Society's Geography Bee state meet in Sacramento. |
Foothill Country Day School 6th grader Joshua Vincent and 7th grader Christine Mourani were deep in thought on January 16 as they pondered the questions that they were being asked on stage in the school auditorium.
From the two finalists emerged the 2008 representative of Foothill—Joshua—who now looks to qualify for the state round of the National Geographic Society’s Geography Bee, a national academic competition for 4th through 8th grade students.
“It felt good,” Joshua said. “I also competed last year and I ended up in the final 5 [at school]. I really love geography—it’s my best subject. My parents taught me the 50 states when I was 3 years old and they used to have a song that went along with it.”
Joshua was presented with a medal following his victory in a school competition that involved 100 students at Foothill Country Day. The yearly process begins with the 4th- to 8th-grade students taking a quiz, which then narrows the pool down to 12 students, who then participate in oral bees until there is a winner.
The final round between Joshua and Christine featured difficult questions that required them to know more than just a location of an area on a map. Within the questions were also elements of historical and scientific significance.
Though she does not have a strong interest in geography, Christine respects the amount of knowledge a contestant must have in order to finish among the national leaders in the competition.
“To be able to know all those places—that’s really amazing,” she said.
The in-school geography bees are conducted according to the rules and regulations of the National Geographic Society. When a school decides to enter in the competition, the organization sends a manual that not only contains the information on how to conduct the bee but also what questions are used.
“The interesting thing about geography is that it covers all the different areas of study,” said Julianne Armstrong, who coordinates the Geography Bee on campus and is a retired Foothill Country Day teacher. “You have to be sharp and have been exposed to different areas to do well.”
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COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy
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| Foothill Country Day School students Christine Mourani and Joshua Vincent answer geography questions read by retired teacher Julianne Armstrong during the final round of the school’s geography bee last week. |
“We had been interested in it before we brought it to the school,” she explained. “Bob Pay is the one who got it off the ground and after Bob stopped doing it, then I took over.”
Since Foothill’s participation in the national contest, the school has fared well, thanks to the efforts of former students such as Derek Chang and Riley Lewis. Mr. Lewis, who one year finished in second place overall nationally, was on hand at this year’s Foothill Country Day Geography Bee as one of 3 judges on the panel that also included the school’s community outreach director Eleanor Pierson and substitute teacher Laurie Riggio.
“I feel like this is a good thing because this is what got me into geography,” Mr. Lewis said. “Mrs. Armstrong and Mrs. Riggio taught me geography when I was here and I remember the geography bee as being one of the highlights of the year whenever I competed.”
Knowing the history of how well both Mr. Lewis and Mr. Chang fared on a national scale has acted as an inspiration for Joshua, who would like to be another student from Foothill who makes it to the state finals. The 6th grader has recently taken a test and if his score ranks him within the top 100 students throughout California, he will move on to the state meet that will take place in Sacramento on April 4.
“I think I did good because 80 percent of the questions I knew,” Joshua said. “I hope I’m in the state lineup and have the chance to do as well as Riley Lewis and Derek Chang did.”
—Landus Rigsby
