Surely no trivia buff exhibits more world-class knowledge than the elementary school kids who memorize arcane facts to compete in the National Geographic Geography Bee.
Even reaching state level in what is popularly known as the Geo Bee is an accomplishment of note.
Take Tea Forrest, a fifth-grader at Riverview Elementary School, who qualified for state competition held March 27 in Denver. She didn’t reach the final round, but since the contest poses the same questions to fourth- through eighth-graders, younger students are at a distinct disadvantage.
In fact, 18 of the state champions who advanced to national competition in 2014, were repeat state champions. Two of the 18 were competing for the fourth time and three competed for the third time.
Tea is the daughter of Jennifer and Mark Forrest, both physicians. She specializes in orthopedics, he in urology.
Tea is the typical fifth-grader, her father said. She likes to read, but she also skis and plays the piano.
“She became more interested in the Geo Bee after taking first place at Riverview,” Forrest said. “The main source of her research were prep books from National Geographic.
“Tea was happy with her performance at the state level,” Forrest said. “She is talking about doing it next year.”
At Riverview, the local competition is guided by Lisa Clancy, a fifth-grade teacher who is doing the job for the third year. The geography bee is voluntary, and only fifth-graders compete at Riverview, where participation goes back 15 years.
Based on an initial seven questions, about 70 fifth-graders are winnowed to 10 and then to a single champion, who moves on to state competition. Only three fifth-graders at Riverview ever have advanced to state competition.
At the state level, the preliminary round reduces about 100 students to 10 who complete in the final round to find out who goes to nationals in Washington, D.C.
National winners are richly rewarded. There are $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 scholarships for the top three spots. The seven runners-up each receive $500 cash.
In the end, the 50 state finalists have edged out 4 million other students.
Joseph White, the son of Howard White and Rebecca Lumbert, an eighth-grader at Miller Middle School, was the only other student who qualified for state from Durango School District 9-R. He didn’t attend because of family plans.
All students at Miller entered the initial round of competition. The top five students from each the sixth, seventh and eighth grades went through further testing until only Joseph White remained.
daler@durangoherald.com
