As many as 15 Ventura County high schools tested their knowledge in a competition that would grant the entire team the opportunity of flying over the heartland of Ventura County in a helicopter.
The 22nd Annual High School Geography Competition was held on Nov. 20 at Oxnard College despite the cold weather. There were approximately 190 students who participated in an individual writing competition and a team competition that assessed their understanding of geography in areas of: the physical environment, world affairs, historical geographical issues and political geographical issues.
Christiane Mainzer, geography professor and co-coordinator for this event, is delighted to have so many high school students participate in such a valuable competition.
“Oxnard College is the only college on the West Coast that sponsors this type of high school competition in regards to geography in the western region of the U.S.,” said Mainzer.
According to Mainzer, the build up to this participation is one that has taken over 20 years to accomplish. The first competition began with about 30 high school students, and now there is close to 200 students; adding that students usually come back after their first year of participation.
She also explains that the winning team for the group competition receives a helicopter ride courtesy of Jim McCrory of Aspen Helicopters, who is a member of the Geo Committee and helped design the geography questions along with Mainzer.
The competition was sponsored by Oxnard College, Oxnard College Foundation, Oxnard College HIS STEM Grant, American Petroleum Institute, Aspen Helicopters and many more.
Dr. Richard Duran, Oxnard College president, was honored to host such a valuable event.
“I am very delighted that we’re doing this,” said Duran. “It’s a great opportunity to bring in the high school kids to test their geography knowledge. This is a great event for the campus to host because we look at our future students and they get to see what we have to offer.”
Oxnard High, Adolfo Camarillo, Santa Paula High, Ventura High, Newbury Park High, Santa Clara High, Channel Islands High, Frontier High and Hueneme High were among some of the high schools that participated in the event.
The individual competition entailed a written test of about 50 questions. The team competition was comprised of about 4-6 students that collectively answered the verbal questions on a piece of white paper. The teams were then proctored by several judges and volunteers that staffed the competition.
Dr. Larry Miller, Ventura County Community College District trustee, believes that giving up a Saturday for a competition shows a lot of character in students.
“I think these competitions help prepare students for life because you never do this again in college,” said Miller. “More importantly it helps them gain confidence, work together and prepare for something like this.”
This year, Newbury Park High School trumped last year’s 1st place winners, Rio Mesa High, with the highest score ever received of 19 out of 20 points for the team competition.
Still, Rio Mesa High shined in 2nd place, while Camarillo High received 3rd place for the group competition.
To add to the celebration, Jake Perl of Newbury Park High, took 1st place for the individual written competition.
“It feels great,” said Perl. “This is my first year, so it’s a really good way to start out a Geo Bowl Victory.”
Miharu Shimamoto, Newbury Park High School Advisor, is proud of her students and their efforts in this competition.
“I think students who don’t take advantage of academic competitions are missing out,” said Shimamoto. “This is a lot of fun. It’s amazing to be surrounded by students who know so much. You really get inspired just by being here.”
Amy Edwards, speech and communications professor at OC, was happy to be able to support the faculty at this event and believes it’s important for students to get involved with academic competitions.
“It makes academics more fun,” said Edwards. “There’s this stigma that school is boring or that academics are lame when in actuality, to learn something every single day is pretty amazing.”
Edwards served as the Master of Ceremonies and Judge for the competition.
Stan Mantooth, superintendent of the Ventura County School District (k-12), encourages students to participate in academic competitions.
“This is only my third year attending this event and this is the largest turnout that I have seen,” said Mantooth. “And to see all these kids coming out and answer questions that most adults couldn’t is great.”
Evelyn Varaswell, a parent in attendance of the event, couldn’t be more proud of the students participating today.
“I feel very, very proud and that’s why we came out here…to support,” said Varaswell. “This is great for all the kids. To see kids using their minds and be bold enough to do something like this in the first place, is exciting.”
15 Ventura County high schools participated in the competition; approximately 190 students total. (Photo by Monica Valencia)
1st Place Individual Written Competition winner Jake Perl (left) of Newbury Park High with Advisor Miharu Shimamoto. (Photo by Monica Valencia)
1st Place Group competition winners – Newbury Park High with their advisor, Miharu Shimamoto (right). (Photo by Monica Valencia)
1st place prize – helicopter flight around Ventura County’s heartland courtesy of Aspen Helicopters. (Photo by Monica Valencia)
