Homeschooler Nathan Cornelius wins national geography bee

Star Tribune ^ | May 25, 2005 | Greg Gordon

[Cincinatus' Wife]

WASHINGTON -- Nathan Cornelius, a home schooled seventh grader from Cottonwood, Minn., won the 17th annual National Geographic Bee competition today, with a dazzling display of knowledge about places, cultures, cities, countries and rivers around the globe.

For winning the competition, which started with 5 million students nationwide, Nathan was awarded a $25,000 scholarship.

He bested nine other finalists during the taping of the event moderated by TV’s ''Jeopardy!'' host Alex Trebek.

He was one of two contestants to survive a double elimination first round that took 105 questions.

Then he outlasted Karan Takhar, 14, of Rhode Island,in an 11-question championship round.

The deciding question called on the contestants to identify the dammed river that forms artificial Lake Gatun in the Panama Canal system.

Nathan hardly hesitated before writing down his answer: the Chagres River. He couldn’t contain a big smile when Trebek noted that the two finalists had different answers.

[biblewonk]

25k. Righteous bucks!

[BibChr]

"Homeschooling -- it's not just for scary religious types anymore!"
-Buffy (the Vampire Slayer)

Dan
(scary religious HSing type)

[Search4Truth]

I can't imagine a better way to address so many problems in our society today, than to home school children, with all its attendant family values.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

It's a national happening!

[Alberta's Child]

The most shocking aspect of this story is that it wasn't some Asian-American kid who won it.

/sarcasm off/

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I absolutely agree.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

I'd also bet he is a Christian ... . His parents have every right to be very proud of him.

What if he's Jewish? Should his parents not be proud if him?

[2Jedismom]

Allow me...I still have the ping list until Friday!

If you want off this list, freepmail me. If you want on, freepmail DaveLoneRanger.

[jaydubya2]

"Homeschooler wins national geography bee"
Yea, but I bet he has no social life......just kidding!
Great job Nate!

[Osage Orange]

Homeschooling's great, but it only seems viable (or necessary) for a small percentage of students.

From my perspective....many more families could H.S. if they really wanted to. They just choose not to. I disagee with your assessment of necessity though.

Many places still have great public schools (in my area, Arlington, VA and Montgomery County, MD, come to mind).

I'm quite sure that is true....but for every "great" school you can name...I can name one's that aren't. I suspect..( I have no proof..) that the bad out weigh the good. But I admit to a bias here. Ha!!

Parochial or private schools are a good alternative (I live in DC and would want my kids to go to the British School in particular).

I agree. I take it, that you can't find a good public school in D.C.?

Finally, for some parents homeschooling just isn't feasible economically (such as a single mother living in Anacostia).

Agreed. But, will add..as I mentioned above....many families could, they just choose not to.

FRegards,

[Monterrosa-24]

The single mom in Anacostia has more reason than anybody to homeschool. She should not dump her child into DC's government schools. Many have mothers or aunts or uncles who could help with baby sitting and/or homeschooling while the young single mom modifies her work schedule at Roy Rogers. She can take her youngster on great field trips to various Smithsonian museums, Theodore Roosevelt Island, Rock Island Park, The National Zoo, the C&O Canal and Georgetown's campus, The Titanic Memorial, Old Town Alexandria, Arlington Cemetery, and many other great spots with easy use of public transportation and minimal cost. All those spots are just a few miles from Anacostia.

[Paisan]

And I bet you're right.
Home schooled kids are not 'limited' by the socialization constraints placed on them by the public school system.
My home schooled son could and would converse with ANYONE, ANY AGE.
When I was in school, one did not stray from one's grade.
1st graders only hung out with 1st graders, etc.
Home schooling detractors have it all wrong. It's the public school kids who are deprived of social immersion.

[Osage Orange]

I always made it a point to beat my younger brothers and steal their shiny nickles so they'd have that wonderful experience that my cruel parents were denying them ;-)

That's what big sister's are for....

: )

[Modernman]

The single mom in Anacostia has more reason than anybody to homeschool. She should not dump her child into DC's government schools.

I agree. But how do you propose she homeschool while also working to put food on the table? Vouchers might be a good solution, in her case. The $13K a year DC spends per student in its "educational system" would be eagerly accepted by any of the neighboring school districts or in one of DC's private schools.

Many have mothers or aunts or uncles who could help with baby sitting and/or homeschooling while the young single mom modifies her work schedule at Roy Rogers.

The mothers and aunts are usually no more than 20 years older than their children in places like Anacostia. They're not retirees with lots of time on their hands (unless, of course, they're on welfare).

And as for male members of the family? In a place like Anacostia, a significant percentage are in jail or otherwise out of the picture.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

....It would be nice to seem some stats on this.

Yes. They're winning spelling and geography bees and being accepted to prestigious universities.

[politicket]

WOOHOO!!! Way to go Nathan!!!

As a side note, we are heading to Washington D.C. this coming Sunday to participate in the National Spelling Bee. My son is the State Spelling Bee champion for Colorado. The bee is being held on June 1 and 2.

Those interested can see all of the details at: National Spelling Bee. If you look under the "Spellers" section and look for Speller #37 then you can read his biography.

Also, there was a newspaper videographer at the state spelling bee that put together a short 3-minute documentary. You can see it here.

There are 34 homeschoolers out of the 273 students participating in this years spelling bee. Please pray that a homeschooler would be victorious!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

....Home schooling detractors have it all wrong. It's the public school kids who are deprived of social immersion.

Bingo!

[JenB]

Homeschoolers: taking over the world, one kid at a time.

Congrats to your son! Hope he does well!

[FreedomSurge]

He may be able to know where places are, but what does he know about social justice?

[Monterrosa-24]

"...And as for male members of the family? In a place like Anacostia, a significant percentage are in jail or otherwise out of the picture."

And THAT is why she needs to homeschool especially if she has a male child. It is already happening with young Blacks in places like Chicago, Gary, Newark, etc. and the trend with continue.

Even is the singlemMom is 15 and her aunt is 30 they should have no trouble getting little Tamika's or little Jamil's writing up to and surpassing DC public school standards. In Russia, the public school day is only about three and a half hours for elementary students and homeschoolers often get by with less than that.