Ellicott Mills student takes third at GeoBee
Eighth-grader Rishi Kumar, a student at Ellicott Mills Middle School in Ellicott City, took third place in National Geographic’s GeoBee national competition after competing in the final round in Washington.
As the third-place finisher at the May 22 contest, Kumar will receive a $5,000 college scholarship and $1,000 in cash.
“I was initially disappointed after coming in third, but I eventually felt happy for doing that,” Kumar said May 23, noting that according to National Geographic, more than 2 million students participated this year in the GeoBee, which begins at the school level.
“It was really exciting being one of those three participating in the finals,” he said.
Kumar said he has been interested in geography since he was 3 years old, when he would play with the family globe. He started participating in the GeoBee as soon as he was eligible, in fourth grade. This was his second year making it to the national competition.
To study for the GeoBee, Kumar said he Kumar studied for an hour or more every morning, reading his family’s atlases and combing through National Geographic websites and databases.
“It was great just to be there, to see him represent Maryland,” said Paranika Natarajan, Kumar’s mother. “We learned a lot as well from the competition and other students.”
Fifty-four state-level winners from across the country competed by demonstrating their geographic knowledge and project-based skills, according to a news release from National Geographic.
Kumar was one of three students to make it to the final round. Atreya Mallanna, a sixth-grader at William Diamond Middle School in Lexington, Mass., and Nihar Janga, an eighth-grader at Canyon Ridge Middle School in Austin, Texas, also survived the semifinal cut. Janga was the ultimate winner.
In the semifinal round, Kumar won by correctly answering questions like: “Which strait in the western U.S. stretches from Cape Flattery to Whidbey Island?”
(The Strait of Juan de Fuca) and “The West Frisian Islands belong to what country?”
(The Netherlands).
In the final round, Kumar was tasked with challenges like identifying possible shipping routes through an Arctic Circle melted by climate change. He said he hopes people stop climate change so the scenarios he outlined during the competition will never happen.
According to a news release, the competition for students in fourth through eighth grade was established in 1989 to encourage students and teachers to prioritize geography education.
In the future, Kumar said he hopes to put his geography knowledge to use – right now, he is considering going into urban design and planning.
When he finishes eighth grade this year, Kumar will no longer be eligible for the competition. But he said making it to the final round was a good way to end his GeoBee career.
“Overall, it was a lot of fun,” he said.
River Hill senior wins regional journalism award Journalism is a big part of Lauren Mitchell’s life.
For the past four years, the River Hill High School senior has been involved with the school’s student-run newspaper The Current. This year, she was co-editor in chief. She’s also had her own website where she covered pop culture, politics and more.
“Creative writing was something I’ve always really enjoyed,” Mitchell said. “In the third grade, we would have creative writing for 15 [to] 30 Mitchell minutes each day and I think that really sparked an interest in me [at] a young age.”
Mitchell was recently recognized for her journalistic efforts.
Mitchell, 18, won the 2019 Michael S.
Powell High School Journalist of the Year at the annual Maryland-Delaware-D.C.
Press Association awards contest in Annapolis in May. She received a $1,500 cash scholarship.
The award annually honors an outstanding senior staff member of a Maryland, Delaware or District of Columbia high school newspaper. Students submitted applications including a personal essay, an adviser recommendation and five writing samples. The winner is chosen by the MDDC Scholarship Selection Committee, which is comprised of regional news media editors While writing features is Mitchell’s favorite, she started off at The Current writing television entertainment reviews before transitioning to being able to write news articles, sports coverage and more.
As co-editor in chief, Mitchell has helped publish five editions this year, with a six-person staff. She also helped revamp the newspaper’s website.
Wayne Tromble, an English teacher at River Hill, has been Mitchell’s journalism teacher for the past two years.
“Lauren has been an outstanding student, a leader [and] really responsible,” he said.
Tromble knew Mitchell would always get the paper done and all he had to do was look it over for final edits.
Mitchell said he hopes to one day have her own publishing company.
She will attend Penn State University this fall, majoring in marketing at the Smeal College of Business. Mitchell plans on either double majoring or minoring in journalism and is looking forward to be involved with the student newspaper there, the Daily Collegian.
As the third-place finisher at the May 22 contest, Kumar will receive a $5,000 college scholarship and $1,000 in cash.
“I was initially disappointed after coming in third, but I eventually felt happy for doing that,” Kumar said May 23, noting that according to National Geographic, more than 2 million students participated this year in the GeoBee, which begins at the school level.
“It was really exciting being one of those three participating in the finals,” he said.
Kumar said he has been interested in geography since he was 3 years old, when he would play with the family globe. He started participating in the GeoBee as soon as he was eligible, in fourth grade. This was his second year making it to the national competition.
To study for the GeoBee, Kumar said he Kumar studied for an hour or more every morning, reading his family’s atlases and combing through National Geographic websites and databases.
“It was great just to be there, to see him represent Maryland,” said Paranika Natarajan, Kumar’s mother. “We learned a lot as well from the competition and other students.”
Fifty-four state-level winners from across the country competed by demonstrating their geographic knowledge and project-based skills, according to a news release from National Geographic.
Kumar was one of three students to make it to the final round. Atreya Mallanna, a sixth-grader at William Diamond Middle School in Lexington, Mass., and Nihar Janga, an eighth-grader at Canyon Ridge Middle School in Austin, Texas, also survived the semifinal cut. Janga was the ultimate winner.
In the semifinal round, Kumar won by correctly answering questions like: “Which strait in the western U.S. stretches from Cape Flattery to Whidbey Island?”
(The Strait of Juan de Fuca) and “The West Frisian Islands belong to what country?”
(The Netherlands).
In the final round, Kumar was tasked with challenges like identifying possible shipping routes through an Arctic Circle melted by climate change. He said he hopes people stop climate change so the scenarios he outlined during the competition will never happen.
According to a news release, the competition for students in fourth through eighth grade was established in 1989 to encourage students and teachers to prioritize geography education.
In the future, Kumar said he hopes to put his geography knowledge to use – right now, he is considering going into urban design and planning.
When he finishes eighth grade this year, Kumar will no longer be eligible for the competition. But he said making it to the final round was a good way to end his GeoBee career.
“Overall, it was a lot of fun,” he said.
River Hill senior wins regional journalism award Journalism is a big part of Lauren Mitchell’s life.
For the past four years, the River Hill High School senior has been involved with the school’s student-run newspaper The Current. This year, she was co-editor in chief. She’s also had her own website where she covered pop culture, politics and more.
“Creative writing was something I’ve always really enjoyed,” Mitchell said. “In the third grade, we would have creative writing for 15 [to] 30 Mitchell minutes each day and I think that really sparked an interest in me [at] a young age.”
Mitchell was recently recognized for her journalistic efforts.
Mitchell, 18, won the 2019 Michael S.
Powell High School Journalist of the Year at the annual Maryland-Delaware-D.C.
Press Association awards contest in Annapolis in May. She received a $1,500 cash scholarship.
The award annually honors an outstanding senior staff member of a Maryland, Delaware or District of Columbia high school newspaper. Students submitted applications including a personal essay, an adviser recommendation and five writing samples. The winner is chosen by the MDDC Scholarship Selection Committee, which is comprised of regional news media editors While writing features is Mitchell’s favorite, she started off at The Current writing television entertainment reviews before transitioning to being able to write news articles, sports coverage and more.
As co-editor in chief, Mitchell has helped publish five editions this year, with a six-person staff. She also helped revamp the newspaper’s website.
Wayne Tromble, an English teacher at River Hill, has been Mitchell’s journalism teacher for the past two years.
“Lauren has been an outstanding student, a leader [and] really responsible,” he said.
Tromble knew Mitchell would always get the paper done and all he had to do was look it over for final edits.
Mitchell said he hopes to one day have her own publishing company.
She will attend Penn State University this fall, majoring in marketing at the Smeal College of Business. Mitchell plans on either double majoring or minoring in journalism and is looking forward to be involved with the student newspaper there, the Daily Collegian.
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