Jakob Blacksmith wins the Geography Bee
For the 28th year, the National Geographic Society held the National Geography Bee for students in the fourth through eighth grades in thousands of schools across the United States and in the five U.S. territories, as well as in Department of Defense Schools around the world. This year all sixth, seventh, and eighth students at South (a total of 631 students) competed in the first seven rounds of the bee. For the first time in the history of South Middle School after the first seven preliminary rounds, ten student earned perfect scores to become the ten finalists. Nolan Alger, Emmett Allen, Jakob Blacksmith, Mason Craig, Norman Isley, Thomas McGee, Derek Seals, Aiden Russell, Bryce Timberlake, and Mackenzie Van Ess earned their spot to compete in front of the whole school that determines the winner.
Ms. MacMillan, Mr. Warner, Mrs. Richardson, and Mr. Scarcello presided over an all school assembly that was held on January 9th, 2015 to determine the school champion. After six rounds of questions and a championship round, eighth grader, Jakob Blacksmith won the Geography Bee. Applying his knowledge of great literature and geography, Jakob answered this question: “Jack London’s classic novel The Call of the Wild tells the story of a pet dog that learns to survive in the wild after being kidnapped. This story takes place in the Yukon in which country? Of course, Canada! Mason Craig, another eighth grader, captured runner-up and Thomas McGee, a seventh grader, garnered third place again, earning the third place honor for the second year in a row. Jakob will advance to the state level of competition by taking a written examination. All school winners are eligible to win the national championship and its first prize, a $25,000 college scholarship, at the national competition, May 20 and 21 in Washington D.C. which is hosted by “Jeopardy!” host, Alex Trebek. Good luck Jakob! South Middle School is proud of you.