Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion Social Studies teacher Rob Moore steals the mouse from Gabriella Rogers during a morning practice session Friday, March 25, 2016, at Skyview Middle School in Soldotna, Alaska.

Photo by Kelly Sullivan/ Peninsula Clarion Social Studies teacher Rob Moore steals the mouse from Gabriella Rogers during a morning practice session Friday, March 25, 2016, at Skyview Middle School in Soldotna, Alaska.

Skyview student prepares for geography bee

  • By Kelly Sullivan
  • Sunday, March 27, 2016 8:24pm
  • News

A middle school student from Skyview Middle School will put her world knowledge to the test in a global way.

Seventh grader Gabriella Rogers is one of 100 students statewide heading to Anchorage on Friday, April 1, for the 2016 Alaska State Geography Bee, the winner of which will advance to the National Geographic bee Championship in Washington D.C., May 22-25. She has been preparing for months under the tutelage of social studies teacher Rob Moore.

“It is kind of above and beyond the call of duty for the kids,” Moore said.

Since geography is not offered anymore as its own class at the school, swallowed in the past by other curriculum requirements relating to standardized testing, students pick up bits and pieces in their social studies classes. Moore is one of 10,000 educators nationwide who have been making sure kids have the chance to take a more in depth approach to the subject by facilitating study sessions and testing interested groups who want to take a shot at the annual bee.

The contest is in its 28th year. The winner of the national contest will receive $25,000.

Moore said National Geographic started hosting the event to make sure the younger generations were gaining necessary knowledge of the world around them. He takes a similar approach in the classroom.

“I tell students the first day of class that social studies exists to answer the question ‘what is the best way to live?’” Moore said.

Rogers said she cultivated a broader interest in the subject because she wants to travel regularly when she is older and wants to understand what all her options will be.

She went up against about 15 of her peers this year, and hundreds more around Alaska to qualify as one of the top 100 hopefuls that will advance.

It will not be easy.

“Some (questions) don’t even seem like they are related to geography,” Rogers said.

While they all will be, the range is exhaustive.

Students could be asked anything about any event or information relating to anything that happened in all of the world’s 4 billion years of history, Moore said.

“You asked me (a word) you couldn’t even pronounce,” Rogers said to Moore with a smile.

Some questions are conceptual and some are straightforward, Moore said. Some are abstract and require formulating a thoughtful answer, while others will require a simple recall of facts, he said.

“If they ask a question about Europe and you don’t know the answer just say ‘France,’” Moore said to Rogers.

For many students it will be a matter relaxing and using common sense, Moore said. More and more kids already have much of that knowledge at their finger tips with all the various kinds of technology available to them, and it is becoming more vital they know how to put it into context, he said.

“This generation faces global problems to a scale and degree of consequences greater than any generation in the past,” Moore said.

 

Reach Kelly Sullivan at kelly.sullivan@peninsulaclarion.com.

Skyview student prepares for geography bee

More in News

Kenai Vice Mayor Henry Knackstedt and Kenai City Council member Sovala Kisena share thoughts on Kenai’s parks and recreation facilities and programs during the kickoff for a development of a parks and recreation master plan in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai begins community conversation about parks and recreation master plan

The city is undertaking a yearlong process to create a guiding document for the next 20 years of outdoors and recreation development in the city.

Alaska State Troopers (file photo).
2 dead, 1 hospitalized in Nanwalek plane crash

The crash occurred near the airport Monday afternoon.

Shrubs grow outside of the Kenai Courthouse on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai man pleads guilty to 2019 sexual assault

The man was arrested Dec. 4, 2019, after a person reported several injuries at a local hospital.

Economist and research analyst Andy Wink presents “State of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Economy” during the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District Industry Outlook Forum in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
KPEDD forum focuses on borough economy, vision for future

Where most economic indicators suggest fairly good health, housing appears to be a cause for concern, according to an economist presenting at forum.

State Sen. Löki Tobin (D-Anchorage) reviews an amendment on an education bill with other senators during a break in floor debate Monday at the Alaska State Capitol. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Update: Effort to rush compromise education bill through Legislature hits snag due to ‘drafting error’

Bill returned to Senate, which passed it 19-1, to fix error in amendment; House vote expected by Wednesday

Member Tom Tougas speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Tourism Industry Working Group in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Tourism working group gets 2-month extension

In a 3-3 vote, the working group had earlier this month rejected a draft document with proposed recommendations.

Various electronics await to be collected and recycled during an electronics recycling event in Seldovia. (Photo courtesy of Cook Inletkeeper)
Cook Inletkeeper celebrates 20 years of electronics recycling

More than 646,000 pounds of electronic waste has been diverted from local landfills.

Liz Harpold, a staff member for Sen. Donny Olson (D-Golovin)​, explains changes to a bill increasing per-student education funding and making various policy changes during a Senate Finance Committee meeting on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Revised education bill with $700 BSA hike gets new policy measures, advances to Senate floor

Changes easing charter school rules, adding new district evaluations fall short of governor’s agenda.

Students of Sterling Elementary School carry a sign in support of their school during a special meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
District adopts budget with severe cuts, school closures

The preliminary budget assumes a $680 increase in per-student funding from the state.

Most Read