Sociology prof’s son competes at state bee
Fifth-grader’s love of geography sends him to tough competition
By Stephanie Chen
The Daily Northwestern
In a theater crowded with family, friends, teachers and strangers, 11-year-old Christian Hunter sat anxiously awaiting his question at Friday’s 16th annual National Geographic Bee state competition in South Barrington, Ill.
Surrounded by geography students in the fourth- through eighth-grades geography from throughout the state, Christian felt intimidated by the competition. But as the first student from Washington Elementary School to attend the state bee, he said he mostly was just happy to be there.
“I looked around at all the people around me who never got any questions wrong,” said Christian, a fifth-grader at Washington Elementary in Evanston/Skokie School District 65. “I was nervous and running through all the capitals in my head.”
Christian, who wore his lucky T-shirt to the competition, answered a few questions correctly in the first elimination round but not enough to advance to the next.
Christian’s father, Northwestern sociology Prof. Albert Hunter, said he was impressed by his son’s ability to answer questions that went beyond the traditional memorization of rivers and states. This year’s questions included historical, political and environmental issues.
“They asked him what country in Europe had protests recently reacting to unemployment, and (Christian) knew the answer was Italy,” Hunter said. “He did extremely well. Just the fact that he was there and only 11 years old was impressive.”
Christian said he felt some of the questions were difficult, but he loved the challenge.
“I like answering questions, especially ones that you really have to think about before you answer,” he said.
The National Geographic Bee, sponsored by National Geographic magazine, attracts hundreds of students from across the nation each year. Students must first win the geography bee at their school to make it to the state competition, said Carla LaRochelle, Christian’s fourth grade teacher and the National Geographic Bee sponsor at Washington Elementary. Christian won his school’s competition in January for the second year in a row.
But this year, after scoring high enough on a 70-question exam administered by the National Geographic Bee, Christian was able to advance to the state competition. Only the students with the top 100 scores in the state are selected to compete in South Barrington.
One winner from each state advances to the national competition in Washington, D.C., where students compete for a $25,000 scholarship and a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society.
LaRochelle said it is rare for fifth-graders to advance to the state competition, but she was not surprised that Christian made it that far.
“In my class as a fourth-grader, he was absolutely blooming out of the water,” LaRochelle said. “He knew all the countries (in the world), and the thing is, he remembers everything he learns.”
But geography is not only an academic interest for Christian — it’s also part of his family life.
At the Hunters’ home, old road maps are covered with Christian’s drawings. His father said Christian likes to draw maps of places he has visited and even create maps of his own.
“He loves geography and anything connected with space,” said his mother, Renee Hunter.
Christian usually is responsible for planning road trips, finding directions and searching for airline tickets, she said. This year he helped find the cheapest fares for his family’s spring break trip to Guatemala.
This summer Christian plans to start studying for next year’s bee in hopes of making it to the national level.
“I’m thankful my family came and cheered me on,” he said. “Hopefully next year I’ll be there again. And I’ll make it past the others.”
