What I Saw Mapped Out at the GeoBee

Here is a confession: I have loved geography since before I can remember. Perhaps it is the perceived order present in the drawn boundaries, the fascinating stories that each city and corresponding country holds, the breathtaking visuals that come to mind when you hear certain place names, or maybe even the way things connect perfectly like a puzzle.

My sweet mother was very patient responding to my requests, those seldom-heard from other second-graders—for instance:

“Can you please help me recite the capitals of the states and territories of Australia? And then next week, quiz me on them? Okay, thanks.”

(Yes, this was a real conversation.)

Thankfully, she did not let my intense “obsession” get in the way of her love for me. From there it developed into a love and a hunger to learn more, and ultimately a desire to travel the United States and the world. To this day I still possess an edition of the National Geographic Society’s extra-large-coffee-table-book-of-maps.

After attending last year’s National Geographic GeoBee Challenge in Thatcher Hall for grades 3-8, I knew I had to find some way to help with the annual event. It just made sense. ELA-8 Assistant Director Angela Pieroni hooked me up as a scorekeeper, and what I saw at the competition last month was so much more than just rote memory put to the test.

From the quizzical looks of internal gears turning to the many a-ha moments, Darlington’s GeoBee had it all. There were many places and other things that I had never heard of—and I like to think that I know my fair share of geo-trivia! There were lots of extraneous details in some of the questions that participants just wouldn’t let trip them up. There were some no-brainers. There was a little anxiety from co-scorekeeper extraordinaire Patrick Collier (‘08), who was hoping his students would remember everything they learned in his history class. There was excitement, some frustration, and something that did not even enter my mind until I saw how it permeated the entire bee—sportsmanship.

Watching the students cheer for each other when they answered a question correctly really warmed my heart. You hear so much about the broken relationships between students at other schools today and the problems that ensue, and you start to become numb to it—but not here at Darlington. What was really sweet to the soul, however, was when our Tigers would support one another in light of an incorrect response or another defeat of some kind. Even at the conclusion, the first thing that winning fourth-grade student Kayo Lufadeju did [after some good-natured fist-pumping, of course] was to give fifth-grader/runner-up/sole-girl-in-the-top-10 Kate Scott a great big hug.

I see more and more of those instances the longer I am here at Darlington. In conjunction with the solid education that our kids receive is this interest, this desire, this need to get along with and relate to one another. You can be the brightest student in the classroom, but what does it all mean if you cannot and will not put yourself to the side to support and lift up those around you? We are not only raising strong future leaders here at Darlington, but young men and women of compassion—of honor.

One of the many things I enjoy about working at Darlington is the opportunity and encouragement to plug in where I want to…Help out with a geography challenge? Sure, go for it! I often find that the experience for faculty and staff is as differentiated as it is for our students. Darlington lends itself to being a place where everyone—not just our amazing students—can grow and flourish along a path meant specifically for them.

You can count me in again for the GeoBee in 2017, but I won't necessarily be looking for the names of rivers in South America, or mountain ranges that span portions of Europe. I'll be looking for and observing the same strong character traits that our students exhibit every day—the honor above everything that they have come to know here at Darlington. That's one thing you won't find drawn on a map, no matter how detailed.