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In a North American showdown, three Mexican teenagers bested finalists from neighboring Canada and the United States to clutch the National Geographic World Championship title earlier this month.

 Moderated by Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek at Sea World, San Diego, teams of elite geography students, top performers in their own geography competitions from 17 regions endured two days of written exams and head-to-head competition to determine the top three contenders. After making their first ever appearance in the final round, Mexico went on to unseat five-time champion the United States, becoming the first non-English speaking team to win in eight years of tournament history. The young men’s expressions of excitement required no translation: “To win gold, it’s really great” beamed 15-year-old Emanuel Johansen Campos of Tejalpa, Mexico. “I don’t have any words.”

 

                                    

                                  AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi courtesy of abcnews.com

Johansen’s champion teammates were Captain Angel Aliseda of Guadaljara, 16, and Carlos Franco Ruiz, 14, of Zapotlan de Juarez. The group correctly identified Abu Simbel, an ancient Egyptian archaeological site carved from sandstone ca. 1200 B.C., to finally come out on top. The team prevailed over a  third-place Canadian group of Marky Freeman, 14, Maxim Ralchenko, 13, and Jonathan Whyte, 13, all from Ontario. A trio of 15 year-olds from the United States captured the silver medal: Kelsey Schilperoort of Prescott HS ( Prescott, AZ),  Neeraj Sirdeskmukh of Nashua HS (Nashua, NH) and Matthew Vengali of Grosse Pointe North HS (Grosse Point Shores, MI). 

The standings fell as if in defiance of a 2002 Roper Poll that placed the three nations among the bottom third in a pool of nine countries surveyed on geographic literacy. This time around, the rankings were literally turned upside down as the ninth, eighth, and seventh countries in the 2002 study finished first, second, and third overall at the 2007 World Championships. The results give credence to convictions held by My Wonderful World.org: That determined students have extraordinary potential for success, and that it is essential to bring global knowledge--and the opportunities that come along with it—to each and every young learner.

Our congratulations go out to all participants for their impressive accomplishments. We hope their success will inspire others to care about the planet and support the cause for geography education!

To read more about the World Championships, check out the following news articles from SignOnSanDiego.com, National Geographic Commuications, and ABCnews. And be sure not to miss these stories from the International Herald Tribune and Australia's  Herald Sun  for international coverage of the event.

To learn more about the U.S. National Geographic Bee and enter for a chance to compete in the International World Championship event, visit the National Geographic Bee homepage. 

Sarah for My Wonderful World

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Comments

[Sarah Jane]

Thanks, Nell! We hope you'll keep coming back!

[nell]

Very good Blog