Eighth grader wins first middle school geographic bee

Eleven middle school students at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School put their geography skills to the test in the school’s first competition of its kind.

Eighth grader Quintin Blake placed first and Trent Liptak was the runner up in the championship on Jan. 15.

The two-day contest involved a preliminary round with written questions provided by the National Geographic Society. The top five students answered oral questions in the final round, and the top two advanced to face off in the championship round.

Nicole McCann, social studies teacher, who organized the geography bee, said the top two were asked the same questions and whomever got three correct won.

“It took three regular questions and three tie breaker questions for Quintin to score ahead of Trent,” she said.

The top winner received a medal, and the other participants were given certificates.

Quintin will take an online test soon, and if he scores high enough, he may be able to move to the state level. State competition is March 27 in Harrisburg. If he does well enough at states, he could advance to nationals and receive scholarships.

Quinton, a writing and publishing major, is the son of Rob and Kate Owen of McDonald. Trent, a music major, is the son of Ben and Lainie Liptak of Beaver.

McCann hopes to involve more students next year for an even bigger competition.

“This is the first time we did this at Lincoln Park and it was an awesome learning experience for everyone,” she said