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mokenamessengerdaily.com news
the mokena messenger | January 16, 2020 | 3
Mokena 8th-grader on the
map following Geo Bee
T.J. Kremer III, Editor
Mokena Junior High School students cheer on their
classmates during the school’s annual Geography Bee
Friday, Jan. 10. Ten students competed for the chance
to advance to the state level, but it was eighth-grader
Uhtman Boudjerda who took the crown.
T.J. Kremer III/22nd Century Media
An instant-classic
showdown took place in
the Mokena Junior High
School gymnasium Friday,
Jan. 10. A battle so
well played that none who
were there will likely soon
forget it.
But it was not a test of
athletic abilities; it was a
display of wills, as much
a test of students’ knowledge
of geography as it
was an endurance test, as
10 students battled it out
for the right to be crowned
Geography Bee champ
and claim bragging rights
for their class.
Representing the seventh-graders
were Ethan
Rogers, A.J. Stoll, Paul
Taussig and Sean Welsh.
On the eighth-grade
side were Helen Ambrose,
Uthman Boudjerda, Andrew
Franson, Luke Galka,
Addison Jensen and
Rosemary Wilson.
After nearly an hour
of round after round of
questions spanning their
knowledge of oceans,
continents, countries and
cities, it finally came
down to just two: the
eighth-grader Boudjerda
pitted against the seventhgrader
Welsh.
Now, the National
Geographic Society, the
organization behind the
nationwide National Geography
Bee — of which
the students were competing
on the school level for
a chance to compete in the
state level and eventually
on to the national finals
— requests that media not
publish specific questions
posed to the students because
that might give others
an unfair advantage
since the questions at the
school level are the same
for all competing schools.
But what we can report
is that the questions were
most assuredly not easy
ones.
In fact, the questions
were so challenging that
the final round between
Boudjerda and Welsh
— a best-of-three round
— was not enough to determine
a winner, as each
student ended the round
with one correct answer
apiece.
That meant a tie-breaker,
sudden-death round
was on. And even that
proved not to be enough
as it took not one, but two
sudden-death questions,
with the crowd of classmates,
teachers and parents
growing more anxious
and vocal with each
question.
Both Boudjerda and
Welsh missed the first
question, a difficult one
3
about rivers flowing into
oceans. But Boudjerda
nailed the second question
— which had something
to do with unicorns, of all
things — while Welsh was
stumped.
The crowd erupted with
screams and chants of
“Uthman, Uthman!”
“I feel great. I’m really
excited and happy,”
Boudjerda said. “I never
thought I’d come this far.”
Boudjerda now has a
chance to compete for a
spot at the state level and
then, he said, he hopes to
represent Mokena Junior
High School on the national
stage.
But that will be decided
at a later date. For now,
Boudjerda can savor his
victory and enjoy the respect
he has earned from
his peers, a respect that
was earned by all of the
contestants through the
strength of their mind
rather than athletic prowess.
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