Troy Mitton shines in geography

Ask any 12-year-old to locate the Galapagos Islands on a map and chances are few will be able to do so.

But Troy Mitton, a sixth-grade student at Sagle Elementary just south of Sandpoint, said if he could travel anywhere in the world it would be there – the Galapagos Islands. Having always exhibited an interest in geography, it is Troy’s knowledge of the world and its countries that helped him become one of the top 100 geography students in the state of Idaho, earning him a spot in the recent Geography Bee in Boise.

“I know a lot about Africa,” said Troy, who likes to go online and look at the Web site Google Earth. “But Europe and Asia are weak points.”

Students across the state competed against their classmates for the right to travel to Boise in early April. Troy won the Sagle Elementary School Geography Bee and was then administered a written test, also given to about 3,000 kids statewide.

Those who scored in the top 100 were then chosen to go to Boise to compete at the state level. But Troy wasn’t just competing against other sixth-grade students; the competition included students in fourth through eighth grades.

Given about two weeks to prepare for the Boise competition, Troy used a geography book from his class.

“That was my study guide,” said Troy who also went online to a geography Web site to play geography games.

He traveled to Boise for the competition with his younger brothers, ages 10 and 7, along with his mom, Zoe Oliver, and her parents. Troy admits he was nervous, but said once he arrived at the competition he started meeting kids, and he felt better.

“It got a lot less stressful,” he said.

The students were divided into five groups of 20 kids and were given eight rounds of questions, with the top finisher advancing. Troy said they were given 15 seconds to answer each question. “It felt very long,” he said. He answered six out of the eight questions correctly, missing the tie-breaker by one point. But he was not discouraged and intends to study and try to advance as far as possible next year.

“It was actually a really fun experience,” he said.

But academics are not all that interest Troy.

He is also student council president, an experience he said that has been very rewarding.

“I’ve always wanted to be president of something,” said Troy.

As a testimony to how well he is respected, Troy was out sick from school the day of the student council elections, but his friend Kyle Stanley, stood up before the students and gave a short speech supporting his friend.

“That was really cool of him to do,” said Troy, who added Kyle told their classmates about Troy’s honesty and trustworthiness.

The student council meets each Thursday, and Troy said some of the duties of the council include making decisions about purchases to make from the budget, organizing fundraisers and planning special fun Fridays at school.

This year some of their fun Fridays have included backward day, Hawaiian day and spirit day. During Valentine’s Day they sold lollipops and raised about $200 to be used for the purchase of sports equipment.

Troy said they are planning another fundraiser soon. “We are having gross out day, and we’re going to sell things like suckers with gummy worms in them,” he said.

Troy will head off to Sandpoint Middle School in the fall and is looking forward to the challenges that are ahead, including continuing to take advanced math class.

“If I do well on my ISATs (Idaho Standards Achievement Test) I may be able to take algebra (in seventh grade),” said Troy, who said that spelling and math come naturally to him but memorization doesn’t. “Unless I am playing a game,” he said.

Troy used to play AAU basketball, but this year has concentrated on his schoolwork and his favorite sport – football. He plays on a tackle football team and hopes to be on the seventh-grade team next fall.

“Football has taught me when to follow and when to be a leader,” said Troy who likes to play on the defensive line so he can tackle the quarterback. His eyes light up when he talks about the opportunity his team had last year to play in front of a big crowd at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane. “It was really exciting to play there,” he said.

Troy said he encourages kids to become involved in their school and extracurricular activities. He has learned several life lessons in class, band, student council and sports.

“Science class has taught me how to work together with other people. We have four or five kids working together on building a bridge, and we are also growing microorganisms,” Troy said.

His teacher, Liz Gollen, said she is impressed by the young man.

“He has a very solid sense of confidence,” said Gollen, who has nominated Troy to attend a People to People World Leadership Forum, a program started by Dwight Eisenhower that recognizes students with outstanding scholastic merit and leadership potential. “Troy never needs to look to other kids before making decisions. He’s also a very kind person. I’ve never seen him put anyone down.”

In fact, said Gollen, she has seen him go out of his way to do little acts of kindness for others and knows that whatever Troy does in his life, he will be successful.

“I see nothing but a bright future for this guy,” she said.