The first academic tournament of the school year in Nevada County is also one of the more popular ones. Five schools recently participated in the Seventh Grade Geography Tournament. County Superintendent of Schools Scott Lays was also a geography major in college. He says the schools nominated three students per-school, who also worked together as a team in a multiple choice 100-point test covering local, state, U.S., and world topics…

click to listen to Scott Lay

Following the team tournament was the Individual Geography Bee, where each school selected one student to represent them in a triple elimination format. Lay says geography still has a lot of value for young people, but especially the social value as well…

click to listen to Scott Lay

The team finishing in first place was Magnolia School. Second place went to Seven Hills and Ready Springs finished third. Meanwhile, Oscar Thomas, from Seven Hills, was the individual winner, followed by Andrew Johnston, from Magnolia, and then Cody Ficarra from the Nevada City School of the Arts.