U.S. Geography Olympiad To Feature Westlake Student

From Westlake City Schools: Westlake High School senior Kyle Yu is heading to the 2018 Varsity National Championships of the United States Geography Olympiad (USGO) in Arlington, Virginia, on April 27 for the third time after earning a perfect score on the written qualifying exam.

His perfect score also earned him a spot in the International Geography Bee World Championships in Berlin July 11-17.

To qualify for the USGO, students must finish in the top half of students on the National Qualifying Exam in their division, or in the top half of scores across the country. Last year he qualified for the Varsity level contest, earning a spot on the USA International Geography Olympiad Team after placing first in the USGO. As a sophomore he qualified for the Junior Varsity level and earned the individual first place trophy in the USA Olympiad.

At the national championships, all Varsity students will participate in a three-part competition, including a 40-minute written exam, a 75-question multiple choice exam focusing on conceptual questions, and a map skills exam consisting of seven to nine sets of questions. The top four Varsity students will constitute Team USA at the 2018 International Geography Olympiad in Quebec City in August.

Last year, Kyle competed with Team USA in Belgrade, Serbia, after being named 2017 National Champion and becoming the second Varsity student ever to win all three portions of the USGO competition – a map exam, a written exam and a multiple choice exam – as well as the overall title.

Kyle has been accepted to and will attend Stanford University in the fall, where he plans to study political science/economics. He is a National Merit Semifinalist and a members of the Science Olympiad team, Academic Challenge, swim team, Model UN and the WHS band. He volunteers at Firelands Hospital in his
spare time.

Photo courtesy of Westlake City Schools