Caledonia Argus

Roellich wins St. Johnís geography bee

Posted: 1/16/02

By Shannon McKinney
Argus News Reporter

Sometimes it pays to watch the History Channel and current events.

Mike Roellich, an eighth grader at St. Johnís Elementary School won the school-level National Geographic Bee Wednesday, January 9 when he correctly answered the question:

ìThe Ancient port city of Heraklion in the Bay of Abu Qir was excavated by an underwater archaeology team working off the coast of what African Country?î

The correct answer is Egypt.

Roellich said he knew the answer because he watches a lot of shows about Egyptian history on the History Channel.

Roellich competed in the final round with Jordan OíHeron, a seventh grader at St. Johnís School.

Roellich advanced to the final round after being the only contestant among several to correctly answer a question about which capital in the United States was rocked by the Puget Sound earthquake in the spring of 2001. The answer is Olympus. Roellich said he knew the answer because he recently did a school project on the state of Washington.

OíHeron competed in the final round with Roellich after being the only one of four to advance from the elimination round. She knew the answer to the question: ìSt. Paul is the part of the Twin Cities. What is the other city?î

Minneapolis was the correct answer.

St. Johnís Lutheran Pastor Jon Wolff commented that some of the questions were tough and he was surprised that Roellich knew the answers.

At last yearís geography bee, Roellich was the runner-up.

Roellich will now take a written geography test. The top 100 scores from Minnesota will compete at a state level geography bee. State champions will then compete at the National Level at Washington D.C. on May 21-22.

The grand prize winner will win a $25,000 college scholarship.

The parents of Michael are Curt and Gloria Roellich.

Top of Page