By: Benjamin Rickert, Communications Dept.
"The Winter Palace, completed in 1762 and first occupied by Catherine the Great, can be found in St. Petersburg in what country?"
If you can answer the question above, you might have what it takes to win the Buncombe County Schools Geography Bee. In fact, this was the final question in the February 11 competition that gave Allie Russell of C.C. Bell Elementary and Maggie Pulver of W.W. Estes Elementary the first place win!
(The correct answer given, by the way, was Russia.)
The Bee was held at the BCS Central Office and used a format similar to that used by the National Geographic Society. Fourth- and fifth-graders from Oakley Elementary, Charles C. Bell Elementary, and W.W. Estes Elementary competed as the culmination of their after-school Geography Clubs that started last fall.
This year, teachers Mr. Schmidt and Ms. Donalyn Small added a twist: teams! Students were assigned a random partner from another school to form a team.
“The students were excellent!” said Mr. Chris Schmidt, gifted education specialist at Bell and Oakley. “They worked well with a partner they didn’t know, came to club each week, tried hard, and made it fun.”
The first of three rounds gave teams seven questions on topics including states, landforms, national parks, countries, culture, science, and continents. The second double-elimination round knocked out all but three teams as students worked to interpret maps and answer tough questions. In the final round, the remaining teams received identical questions to determine the ultimate rankings.
Schmidt hopes next year’s Geography Bee will involve even more schools, and was grateful for the many parents and staff who came together to make this year’s event a success.
Congratulations to all students who worked hard to prepare and compete in the 2019 Geography Bee!
FINAL RESULTS
First Place:
Allie Russell (C.C. Bell Elementary, Maggie Pulver (W.W. Estes Elementary)
Second Place:
Ella Miles-Peart (Oakley Elementary), Coleman Hooper (W. W. Estes Elementary)
Third Place:
Liam Watson (Oakley Elementary), Edward Warburton (W. W. Estes Elementary)