The top three finishers in the Millstone Township Middle School Geography Bee were (from left) Max Zodkoy, third place, Matt Cook, second place, and Ryan Iosim, first place. The excitement was at a fever pitch during the fifth tiebreaker question in a Geography Bee at the Millstone Township Middle School.
“Johnston Atoll, Midway Islands and Wake Islands are all Pacific territories of what country?” was the final question posed to the contestants at the Millstone Performing Arts Center at the middle school on the afternoon on Jan. 9.
“The United States,” replied Ryan Iosim, an eighth grade student who won the National Geographic Society-sponsored Geography Bee with that answer.
Ryan was crowned the champion of his school and must take another written test provided by the National Geographic Society. If Ryan scores high enough in comparison to other school champions in the state, he will move into the state competition.
“Eventually there is a national competition held in May in Washington, D.C., that is similar to the (national) spelling bee,” said Jaime Golizio, the coordinator of the middle school’s Geography Bee.
The champion of the national competition will win scholarships and a trip to the Galapagos Islands.
In the Millstone event, sixth-grader Matt Cook placed second and sixth-grader Max Zodkoy placed third.
The Geography Bee involved 10 participants who stood on stage to answer questions about United States geography and world geography. At certain times the participants used maps to answer questions.
In addition to Ryan, Matt and Max, the contestants were sixth grade pupils Nicole Spadaccini, Brendan Finnegan and Jimmy Rogero; and eighth grade pupils Cole Meier, Vincent Caputo, Obi Chickezie and Cole Walter.
Certificates were awarded to all of the participants, and trophies and iTunes gifts cards provided by the PTSA were presented to the top three finishers, according to Golizio.
After the bee, Golizio explained that the National Geographic Society is the official sponsor of the event, which is offered to all public, private and homeschooled children in the United States in grades four through 12.
Golizio was proud of the students’ performance.
“It was a success,” Golizio said. “The questions were interesting. The audience seemed to enjoy the questions being projected on the large screen behind the contestants so they could play along in their heads.”
Golizio has been coordinating the Geography Bee for a decade. A classroom competition is held to determine the schoolwide participants.
Once the school champion is “crowned,” that student takes another written test that is provided by the National Geographic Society.
“I will then grade that test, using the answer key and rubric provided by the National Geographical Society,” Golizio said. “If that student scores high enough in comparison to other school level champions within the state, I will be contacted and the student will move onto the state competition level.” Golizio teaches sixth grade social studies and part of the curriculum is U.S. geography, so it is fitting that she is the go-to person in this competition.
“Most people think geography is just memorizing states and capitals, which can be very boring to the average sixth grader …” she said. “But this competition helps bring light to the fact that geography is not just places; it is people, culture and interaction with the world around us. It is how we use the Earth and how the Earth is affected by us.”
This year’s Geography Bee “connected questions to professional sports teams and even tours of cities and countries of pop stars,” Golizio said.
“The response was quite positive from the students and they seemed more engaged with these types of questions than ever before. It is my hope these students will continue to remember how important the world is around them … how it is affects who they are, what they do, and where they live. That is geography!”
Brendan Finnegan, a sixth grade student in Golizio’s class, said he was excited to participate in the Geography Bee because his sister won the event three years ago.
Vincent Caputo, an eighth grade student, spoke about some of the interesting things he learned from participating in the bee.
“I have learned about many different places,” he said. “I have also learned about important rivers, cities, and cultures.”