Winning geography gold

• Geography gold

Bailey Elementary fifth-grader Angad Cheema took first place at the school's annual Geography Bee.

Talk about it

Most fourth- and fifth-graders probably have not seen the world, but that hasn’t stopped them from knowing all about its geography.

Fifth-grader Angad Cheema took the gold at Bailey Elementary's annual Geography Bee on Jan. 13 in the school's media center.

"I was excited to win," Cheema said. "Geography is just something that I like for some reason."

Cheema walked away with a certificate, a medal and a trophy. He will advance to the next level of competition, a written examination to determine state competitors. The top 100 competitors will be eligible to compete in the state competition.

The state champion will advance to the National Geographic Society’s National Geography Bee in Washington D.C. for a chance to win a $25,000 college scholarship.

Principal Molly Roeske said the Geography Bee is a great tool to expose students to the world around them.

"It's great for them to know that the world is bigger than just where we are," she said.

For the win

The Geography Bee is divided into two parts, the first part consists of seven rounds of questions. Each student is asked a question orally, and then they must give an answer verbally. Once a student gets two incorrect questions they are eliminated. The second part of the competition, the final round, has two finalist answer the same question on a dry-erase board.

"The questions are pretty tough," Roeske said. "In general, everybody knows how hard it is."

Cheema's winning question was:

"What is the highest point in Tanzania?"

The answer:

Mount Kilimanjaro

Cheema said he was kind of nervous going into the Geography Bee since the questions are so difficult.

"I was a little nervous in a way, but I was somewhat optimistic," he said.

Cheema said he studied 30 minutes a day the whole week to prepare for the Geography Bee.

Cheema said he is excited to take the state test.

"For some reason geography just comes a little naturally to me," he said. "But I'm going to have to study some more."

Tags: elemetnary schools, education, woodbury