Learning the lay of the land

Suzie Harrison

Awareness of the Basques as a group of people who live primarily

in the northern foothills of Spain, understanding that warm ocean

temperature is the condition necessary for the formation of coral

reefs and knowing that the Panama Canal is the waterway that serves

as a short cut for most ships traveling from New York to Los Angeles

are the type of facts students need to master to excel as a

participant in the National Geographic Bee.

It was 13-year-old Wyndham Smith’s knowledge of such information

that earned him the win at the school-wide Geography Bee at Thurston

Middle School.

Wyndham, one of 12 students in Thurston’s Geography Club, is

looking forward to competing on other levels. Wyndham’s next step is

to take a written test. The top 100 scorers in each state and

territory compete at the state level. Each state winner will conquer

even more area at the national level.

Thurston’s Geography Club is headed by teacher David Dixon, who

has been the advisor for four years.

“We choose a theme for that year’s club, which is usually a

continent,” Dixon said. “This year, we’re focusing on countries of

Asia.”

The club also spends time going over questions from previous

geography bees, which are questions about basic geography and the

world in general.

“There are current-event questions,” Wyndham said. “And questions

about stuff that goes on all over the world. Those questions were the

hardest.”

Sammy Guidanean, 14, said he got involved in the geography club

because he is interested in geography in general, the world and

cultures.

“I got third place,” Sammy said. “I expected to place high. I was

happy that I was one of the top three.”

One of the initial reasons for Annika Dries, 10, joining the

geography club was that she got bored at lunch, when the club meets,

and thought it would be fun to join.

“We’re learning different interesting facts about the world,

Annika said. “We learn trivia. Mr. Dixon explains the questions, and

we learn from that.”

Learning geography changes over time is partly why Sean Jackson,

14, enjoys geography. He sited the example of Istanbul’s changes.

Some of Dixon’s students showed how studying geography has

influenced their world.

“I like taking Spanish. I like Spanish-speaking countries,” Curtis

Williamson, 13, said. “I want to go to South America.”

“I think I want to continue to learn about geography later in

life,” Blake Henderson, 12, said.

* SUZIE HARRISON is a reporter for the Laguna Beach Coastline

Pilot. She may be reached at 494-4321 or [email protected].