
People & Culture
Canadian Geographic Challenge alumni remember Alex Trebek
Alex Trebek's involvement in the Canadian Geographic Challenge and International Geographic Olympiad inspired generations of young learners
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Kids
An Ottawa teen narrowly clinched the title of National Champion of the 2019 Canadian Geographic Challenge after a nailbiter of a final Monday in Ottawa.
David Landry, a 10th-grader at Lisgar Collegiate Institute, won the competition by a single point following eight rounds of tough questions on everything from landforms visible from space to Canadian inventions to Indigenous languages and cultures around the world.
This was actually Landry’s second crack at the top prize; he came in second behind last year’s champion, William Chapman. This year, he formulated a new strategy for the final, which was held for the first time in the new Alex Trebek Theatre at 50 Sussex Drive, the headquarters of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
“I really focused on visual aids more this year,” says Landry. “I focused a lot more on the video questions because you can’t repeat them and last year, I missed one word in the question that cost me the point.”
Landry took a commanding lead early in the competition, but by the penultimate round, fellow finalist Ryan Sharpe had crept to within four points of Landry. It all hung on the last round, a Dutch auction question worth up to four points for the competitor who could correctly guess the answer based on the first clue.
“I was up by four going into the last question and you can get up to four points in the last question,” says Landry. “So, all I needed to do was get one point to win.”
Sharpe, a 10th-grader from Oakville, Ont. and also a returning finalist who placed third last year, took the risk of locking in his answer on the first clue and proved correct, but it wasn’t quite enough to knock Landry out of the top spot.
Rounding out the top five finalists this year were newcomers Micah Colman of Ottawa, who finished in third place, Xavier Spano of Burlington, Ont. and Timothy Tao of Ottawa, who tied for fourth place.
Landry says he plans to bank his $5,000 prize, and will try to nab a spot on Team Canada for the 2020 International Geo Olympiad, the senior-level geography competition being held in Istanbul, Turkey.
Thanks to One Ocean Expeditions, Colman, Spano and Tao will have the chance to explore Canada’s East Coast on a 10-day cruise aboard RCGS Resolute, stopping at Percé, Que., Sable Island, N.S., and Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park. Landry, who went on the trip last year, had some advice for his fellow finalists: “Take advantage of everything you do. Absorb the information and enjoy the experience as you get a good immersion into East Coast culture. Most of these places, you’ll never go to again in your life.”
More than 22,500 students in Grades 4-10 participated in this year’s Canadian Geographic Challenge. The top 20 students in Grades 7 to 10 are invited to Ottawa to compete in the final rounds of the competition, which include a written test and a fieldwork test. Registration for next year’s Challenge will open in the fall; visit the Challenge website for more details.
Watch: The 2019 Canadian Geographic Challenge live final
People & Culture
Alex Trebek's involvement in the Canadian Geographic Challenge and International Geographic Olympiad inspired generations of young learners
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Award recipients honoured in the first virtual Annual General Meeting and Fellows Show.
People & Culture
While best known as the host of Jeopardy!, the Honorary President of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society was one of the planet's biggest champions of geographic knowledge and education
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