Athol 6th-grader qualifies for state Geographic Bee

The staff at Athol Elementary believes firmly that they have the very best students anywhere. They may be correct. Bradley Erickson, an 11-year-old sixth-grader, just wiped out the competition in a geography contest. His teacher, Julie Anderson said, “Bradley is very intelligent and learns rapidly. Tell him something once and he remembers it.”

Sponsored by the National Geographical Society and Plum Creek, this son of Jason and Jessica Erickson is a semifinalist eligible to compete in the 2008 Idaho Geographic Bee. Similar to spelling bees, these are questions about geographical locations, peppered with a social studies overtone. Bees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students throughout the state to determine each school’s Geographic Bee winner.

School level winners then took a qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographical Society. In each of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Dependents schools, and the U.S. Territories, the National Geographic Society invited the students with the top 100 scores to compete at the state level.

Asked about the severity of the test, which faculty indicated was advanced, he replied, “None of it was very hard.” Asked again, what the toughest question was, he said, “It was all easy.” Whether this young man’s talent is way off the scale or not, the fact remains that it was a test that had to be completed in one hour, without study or cramming.

He aced this test with just the knowledge he had already picked up in school. Geographic Bee coordinators for Athol elementary are Jennifer Boots and David Moon. The Idaho semifinals will be April 4 at the Boise State University campus. The state winner will receive $100, a globe and a trip to Washington, D.C., where he or she will represent Idaho in the national finals at the National Geographic Society headquarters on May 20 and 21.

The national winner will receive a $25,000 college scholarship. The finals will be broadcast on National Geographic Channel May 21, and Public Television stations.