by Eric A. Thomas
Sometimes capturing the interest of a young mind while in the classroom can be a struggle. However, one Jacksonville boy has had no problems using geography and history through the internet to virtually transport him places around the world since an early age.
Walter Copper, son of Steve and Bre Linstromberg-Copper and an eighth-grader at Our Saviour School (OSS), has been pursuing his love for all things geography and history since the fourth grade. “I have a burning desire for history along with geography,” commented Copper.
Each year OSS has Geography Bees in each classroom and then an overall school competition. Each class from fourth through eighth grades has a contest and the top two winners from each class compete in the school’s final competition. Mr. Don Jolly, the fifth-Grade teacher at OSS, has overseen the Geography Bee competition at the school for 15 years. “Walter became really passionate about geography during the city-wide Geography Bees,” remarked Jolly; “Always worked hard. A strong leader.” Copper won the school-wide Geography Bee in fifth and seventh grade, as well as this year. Once he was the overall winner, he competed in the National Geographic online competition.
This year marked his third time taking the state-wide test from National Geographic. It consisted of 70 questions given in an online competition and National Geographic took the top 100 test score recipients in each state to compete for the state title. Each test was divided into general geography, ancient civilization, world civilization, cultures, and physical features. “Ancient civilizations were always a difficult topic for me. The ancient names for those empires always struck me as odd,” remarked Copper. The third time was definitely a charm for Copper as he qualified in the top 100 competing for the state title.
“In my time at OSS, I have been honored to coach two others in addition to Walter to the state level competition,” commented Mr. Jolly. “I am very proud of Walter and his dedication to geography through the years and to his family for their support in his learning and passions.”
The state-level Geography Bees were to be held in every state on March 27. The top 100, competing in groups of 10, would have winners from each group who would compete for the overall title. Due to the ongoing pandemic, National Geographic made the hard decision to cancel all competitions for this spring which would have determined the winner for the 2019-2020 school year. To celebrate state qualifiers, along with their families and educators, they held a virtual recognition ceremony on Friday, April 17.
National Geographic has been hosting the Geography Bee since 1989. For more than three decades, more than 120 million students have learned about the world through their participation. Students compete for cash prizes, scholarships and an all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition to the Galapagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavor II.
