Education: He knows where it’s at

By Tricia Pursell
The Daily Item

April 02, 2009 07:46 am

— PENNS CREEK — He was born in Costa Rica, spent a summer in Honduras and is growing up in central Pennsylvania.
Combine these varied life experiences with a love for history and geography — and loads of studying — and it is no wonder that Jeffrey McDowell, son of Rex and Hannah McDowell, of Penns Creek, and an eighth-grader at Penn View Christian Academy, is a semifinalist in the 2009 Pennsylvania Geographic Bee for the second consecutive year.
The competition, for students in grades four to eight, will be held Friday at Pennsylvania State University’s University Park campus.
“I’m nervous,” Jeffrey admitted.
But the 14-year-old, who wants to be a history and geography teacher, has spent a lot of time studying flash cards and atlases and taking online tests through National Geographic to prepare for this moment.
To qualify for the semifinals, school-level winners have one hour to complete a qualifying test of 70 questions, which is then submitted to the National Geographic 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 society invited the students with the top 100 scores to compete at the state level.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it,” Jeffrey said. He thought the questions this year were more difficult than last year’s.
Last year at the state semifinals, he made it to the seventh out of nine rounds before missing a question, ending up just shy of moving to the national competition.
“We’re very excited,” said his mother. Her son, she said, is always reading and has a strong appetite to learn. “He loves to study geography. We don’t have to push him hard.”
He always liked history and learning about people and places, but his interest in the competition peaked when his brother was among the finalists several years ago.
According to his teacher, Crystal Gingrich, Jeffrey’s interest in the geography bee got the school involved again in the program. It had gone several years without participating.
“We’re very proud of him and very glad his efforts have paid off,” she said. “He studies hard.”
His mom quizzes him while he washes dishes, and the family even shares questions and answers to geographic-type questions as they gather around the supper table. He has memorized 195 countries and their capitals through a set of flash cards that he reviews over and over again.
This past summer, while his family spent time doing missionary work in Honduras, Jeffrey studied as he walked through the town.
Yet when it comes time for the competitions, Jeffrey said his success mostly will be by chance. “It depends on the questions,” he said.
Despite all of the studying and remaining an honor roll student, he finds time for other activities. He plays first trumpet in his school’s instrumental ensemble, and he enjoys sports. “I’ll play just about any sport there is,” he said.
“The geography bee helps our students to have an awareness of the world around them,” said Principal David DeStefano. “They learn the needs of the world, and knowledge of physical geography gives us a greater sense or acceptance of our stewardship of the world.”
The state winner will receive $100, the “National Geographic Collegiate Atlas of the World” and a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent Pennsylvania in the national finals May 19-20. The first-place national winner will receive a $25,000 college scholarship and a lifetime membership in the society, as well as an all-expense-paid trip to the Galapagos Islands.

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