Glen Crest’s 2012 Geography Bee Champion is a Seventh Grader

For the first time in Glen Crest Middle School’s National Geographic Geography Bee History, two finalists fought it out using up all the questions in the championship round and causing the Glen Crest social studies department MC and judges to rule that the rest of the final questions were to be taken from the regular contest . After many, many rounds between the two finalists, seventh grader Michael Zima was named the champion. Runner-up was awarded to eighth grader Nik Gaikis. Zima will have to get right back into studying geography to be ready for the qualifying essay contest in January. If he passes that test, he will be eligible to compete in the state of Illinois Geography Bee in early spring.

The finals of the National Geographic’s Geography Bee are held in Washington D.C. in May and the grand price is a $25,000 scholarship. Zima stated, “Geography is my favorite subject. I love to learn about the world around me. Studying geography helps me learn what I need to know.”

Competing in the finals this year were: eighth graders, Hadiya Afzal, Stephen Bean, Justin Cieszykowski, Brianne Kelly, Jack McGee and Nik Gaikis; seventh graders were Rob Schmieder and Michael Zima; sixth grade was represented by Allison Gammons. Coordinating the Geography Bee for the entire Glen Crest student body were the teachers in the social studies department, Debbie Pruitt (department chairman), Amy Switzer, Katie McGrath, Craig Hofmann, Pat Doyle and Kris Casey.