Newman Student Wins 2nd Place in the Louisiana Geography Bee

“In the preliminary round, Luke answered seven of the eight questions correctly (which only seven of the 72 competitors were able to do), earning him a spot in the final round. In the final round, Luke competed against nine other students, answering a variety of questions on topics that ranged from the locations of museums across the United States, to Canadian geography, to comparing nations and landmarks.

 

After defeating eight other students (including last year’s state champion), Luke advanced to the championship round, in which he competed against only one other student – an eighth grader who finished the LAGeoBee in second place last year. After a dead heat in all three championship-round questions, Luke and his opponent moved on to tiebreaker questions. Ultimately, Luke missed one question in this sudden-death round, so last year’s second place winner ended up as state champion, and Luke finished the LAGeoBee as the state runner-up!

 

This is quite impressive, especially for a sixth grader (and no Newman student has ever advanced so far in the National Geographic Bee). The entire competition was a nail-biter. Luke conducted himself beautifully throughout the day, answering questions calmly under pressure and graciously shaking hands with his competitors; he represented Newman exceptionally well, as we all expected he would.”