Boulder Hill Students Compete in Geography Bee

Do you know which state Beacon Hill is in? How about which river runs through Minneapolis, St. Louis and Baton Rouge? Or which city is the second-largest in the United States?

On Thursday, Dec. 15, eight students from heard all of these questions and more, as part of the school’s annual Geography Bee. The contest pits the best geography students from each fourth- and fifth-grade class against one another, for the title of Boulder Hill Geography Champion.

Boulder Hill has held a geography bee for at least 10 years running, and as a special treat, the school brought in retired teacher George Hayner as a judge. Hayner taught for years at East View Elementary School, hanging up his hat in 2001, but he has been a regular volunteer at Boulder Hill since, Principal Jeff Schafermeyer said.

The eight students competing in Thursday’s contest were chosen through individual classroom competitions, according to organizer and reading teacher Jeannie Schillinger. And the questions they were given weren’t softballs—students were required to know the names, shapes and capitals of states, as well as places on other continents.

The eight students competing on Thursday were fourth-grader Ashley Barry, fourth-grader Kendyll Eckenroth, fourth-grader Erin Gonzalez, fifth-grader Taylor Greene, fifth-grader Shane Heckenbach, fifth-grader Jessica Krol, fourth-grader Olivia Taylor and fifth-grader Adam Torres.

After a lengthy duel with Krol, Heckenbach finally won the competition by correctly identifying the city with the largest population along the shores of the Great Lakes. (That’s Chicago.) Krol came in second, with Eckenroth taking third.

Schafermeyer said Boulder Hill’s geography bee is the only one of its kind in the Oswego School District.