National Spelling Bee Contender Knows Geography Too
The Michigan City seventh-grader who will represent La Porte County, Ind., in the national spelling bee this May, will also vie for the 2007 championship title in the National Geographic Bee.
Erik A. Troske of Barker Middle School won the Indiana State Geographic Bee held today (March 30) at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).
"I'm shocked. I thought I'd just make it to the first round in this," Troske said when asked how he felt about his wins.
While Troske, 13, has placed second in a couple of Spelling Bee contests, today's competition was his first year in the state Geographic Bee. He attributed his win to "a lot of things I've heard of before" because of his love for animals, bird watching, and the history of colonial times and old kingdoms.
Erik will represent Indiana in National Geographic Bee on Wednesday, May 23, 2007, at National Geographic's Washington, D.C. headquarters. The first, second and third place winners in the national competition will win $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000 respectively.
His quest for a national spelling bee title will continue at the 80th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., May 27 to June 1.
Troske's mother, Judy Troske, and Barker Middle School's academic coach Amy Hamann, were in the audience when Erik won the state Geographic Bee by correctly answering two of three questions in the championship round.
William H. Overhauser, a seventh-grader at International School of Indiana in Indianapolis, placed second. Jonathan M. Hielkema, an eighth-grader at Highland Christian School in Highland, placed third. Hielkema was last year's Indiana state champion.
About 100 students in grades four through eight competed in today's state-level competition. The Geography Educator's Network of Indiana (GENI) based at IUPUI, hosted the finals.
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Reporters/editors/photographers:
Visit the GENI Web Site at http://www.iupui.edu/~geni/ for general information about Bee results. Complete details will be posted after 6 p.m. (EST) today.
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