WMS discovers fun path at Geography Bee
February 19, 2019
What is the second-largest country in South America?
If you’re participating in the National Geographic Geography Bee, you’d probably want to know the answer to this.
Every year, more than 10,000 schools in the United States host a Geography Bee in which students take tests based on their knowledge of the world. Our school district, Watertown Public Schools, has been competing in these competitions for about 20 years now! Some students have gotten to the state competition against other schools from Massachusetts, while others have gotten as far as making it to the national competition.
If you win a state competition, you take a test and, if you pass that, you move onto the national competition. The prize for the winner of the national competition is a college scholarship!!
“It’s a really great competition,” said Chris McDermott, a Watertown Middle School sixth-grade World Geography teacher.
Mr. McDermott thinks that this competition is great for kids who never really get to be the center of attention, because they really get to show off what they know. He also said that it’s a great school community building activity — kids cheer for each other, they make signs, and overall have fun.
James Kirkcaldy, a seventh-grade humanities teacher at WMS, thinks that the past couple of years have been more fun.
“A few years ago, it was just serious,” he said. “People just watched it, but now, it’s more interesting and fun.”
–Feb. 18, 2019–
