Geography Bowl 2012 a huge success
KENNESAW, Ga. (Apr 26, 2012) — The first Kennesaw State University High School Invitational World Geography Bowl was instituted in the Spring of 2000, by the only three geographers on campus at the time, Dr. Harry Trendell, Dr. Garrett Smith and Dr. Mark Patterson. The competition was designed to stimulate interest in the study of geography among local high schools because of negative media reports concerning the geographic knowledge of U.S. students when compared with their counterparts in other countries. The KSU World Geography Bowl is patterned after successful college level versions sponsored by the Association of American Geographers and its regional affiliates at annual meetings across the country. The KSU competition is limited to high school students in the ninth grade who are taking World Geography classes. This gives first year students a chance to represent their high school in an intellectual competition and possibly take home a team trophy. This year eight high school teams from across the metro area convened in the Carmichael Student Center for the 13th Annual High School Invitational World Geography Bowl on Apr. 13th.
The 2012 teams included:
Cherokee High (Cherokee County Schools)
Creekview High (Cherokee County Schools)
Grady High (Atlanta Public Schools)
Hillgrove High (Cobb County Schools)
New Doors (Home School group)
River Ridge High (Cherokee County Schools)
Wheeler High (Cobb County Schools)
Woodstock High (Cherokee County Schools)
The competition involved a Round Robin morning competition, in which all teams played each other. The four teams with the best won-lost records advanced to the afternoon Final Four session. Wheeler and River Ridge both had identical winning records, but Wheeler was seeded first because they defeated River Ridge head to head in the morning competition. River Ridge was seeded second, with Cherokee third and Hillgrove fourth. In the Final Four school #1 plays #4; and #2 plays #3. The losers of this round, then play for 3rd and 4th place, while the winners play a double round for the championship. This year River Ridge High emerged as the champion in a close fought match with Cherokee High, with Hillgrove 3rd and Wheeler 4th. Click on the link below to view an article about the World Geography Bowl in the online Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
