The Geography Bee has been a National competition where grade levels four through eight compete in a test of their knowledge of geography since 1989. The Geography Bee qualification quiz was taken across the country and many students at GMS were disappointed in their scores. Eighth grader Cameron Moorman told us his score and one of his less confident answers.

“Let’s just say I got a 60,” Moorman said. “One question I answered Wakanda Forever and I got it right.”

Although some students tried for a perfect score others did not take the bee seriously.  Eighth grader Alex Solis explained his approach.

“I got a 30,”  Solis said. “There was like five questions I didn’t answer. I did not intend to take the bee seriously.”

Unlike Solis and Moorman, many students were really passionate about the bee and were upset when they realized they did not make the cut. We asked Parker Bryant how he felt when he saw he did not pass.

“I felt sad because I was confident in my answers,” Bryant said. “I really thought I had gotten most of them right.”

However, unlike Bryant, other students were fine that they didn’t do well. We asked Solis and Morman what was going through their head when they realized they did not make it.

“I felt alright. I was a little upset that I missed 3 out of the 5 I did answer,” Solis said. “I was most upset that I forgot Alaska touched the arctic sea.”

“I felt great,” Moorman said. “I don’t like pressure and I’m bad at spelling and geography in general.”

Many students are unaware of the date of the qualification test. Many students wish that they could have been more ready for the test. We asked Solis and Moorman how they would better prepare for similar test in the future.

“There really isn’t anything to prepare for. This isn’t really that serious,” Solis said. “If it was serious I would ask my teacher when it would be and study. My best bet is to cheat.”

“Next time I would just pay attention better and learn the material,” Moorman said.

Even though some students took the test very seriously, some students were not prepared. We asked Bryant what he would do during next year’s test.

“Next time I would study for it, but I didn’t know this was a thing,” Bryant said. “I took the test very seriously, but I don’t remember signing up for it.”