Thursday, March 14, 2002

Do you know what the largest city east of Reno, Nev. and west of Chicago is?

Do you know how many flags have flown over the state of Texas?

You may not, but Anthony Hernandez, a fifth-grade student at Banfield Elementary who’s headed to the state geography bee next month, does-and he knows a lot more geography trivia.

He’s been preparing for the bee since last month, after he placed in the top 100 students in grades four through six in the state, by reading books, studying maps, doing worksheets and reading through his copies of National Geographic magazine.

Anthony says he’s excited about the upcoming contests, but "I’m also kind of scared because there could be kids there who are a lot smarter than me, but there could be some who are not as smart."

He’s had to take a variety of written tests, in addition to the oral competition at Banfield in January, and says "some were really easy, some were really hard. Everything is very classified; we’re not allowed to see the results, so I could have finished 100th or I could have finished first. I don’t really know."

Anthony says he’s always been interested in geography because "I think it’s important that we understand other cultures … and treat them how they should be treated, and I think learning about geography helps that."

His interest in other cultures has helped the aspiring National Geographic photojournalist appreciate his travels to Ireland, England and throughout the United States. His trips, Anthony says, have given him "a sense of place and I think knowledge of geography builds from that."

He says his favorite place overseas was London because he really liked "the Georgian architecture and the Baroque architecture with the modern technology mixed it. I also really liked the double-decker busses and the red telephone booths."

His favorite places in the United States? "Princeton and New York City," Anthony says. "I liked Princeton because I really liked the small college and I liked how it’s a small town with a big reputation. It has a lot of diversity; ethnically, there’s a lot of diversity."

Diversity was one of the reasons he also says New York City is another favorite city, along with "the big city mentality, the big buildings, the big parks and the shopping."

Polly Jelinek, an educational facilitator who is helping Anthony study the sixth-grade curriculum as he prepares to skip to seventh grade next year, also has helped him study for the bee. "It’s really exciting. If I could pick my favorite era of school, it’d be history and geography. I think it’s really interesting," she says. "I think the concept of going and competing is a prize in itself."

"He’s really enthused about it. It’s kind of a hobby for him," Jelinek says. She says she brought a new atlas to their tutoring session one day and that while she was trying to get him to work on his math and science, she noticed him trying to scoot the atlas closer to him.

"I’m ready for any competition they can give out, but I also don’t want to be cocky about it," Anthony says. He says he hopes to at least make it to the final round of the state competition.

If he wins, he’ll advance to the national competition in Washington D.C. There, he’ll join 54 other students from the United States and the U.S. territories and will compete for a $25,000 scholarship from the National Geographic Society.

Oh, the largest city east of Reno, Nev. and west of Chicago is Los Angeles and six flags have flown over Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States and the Confederate States of America.

Polly Jelinek, an educational facilitator who is helping Anthony study the sixth-grade curriculum as he prepares to skip to seventh grade next year, also has helped him study for the bee. "It’s really exciting. If I could pick my favorite era of school, it’d be history and geography. I think it’s really interesting," she says. "I think the concept of going and competing is a prize in itself.

"He’s really enthused about it. It’s kind of a hobby for him," Jelinek says. She says she brought a new atlas to their tutoring session one day and that while she was trying to get him to work on his math and science, she noticed him trying to scoot the atlas closer to him.

"I’m ready for any competition they can give out, but I also don’t want to be cocky about it," Anthony says. He says he hopes to at least make it to the final round of the state competition.

If he wins, he’ll advance to the national competition in Washington D.C. There, he’ll join 54 other students from the United States and the U.S. territories and will compete for a $25,000 scholarship from the National Geographic Society.

Oh, the largest city east of Reno, Nev. and west of Chicago is Los Angeles and six flags have flown over Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States and the Confederate States of America.

Call Amanda L. Rohde at 434-2214 or e-mail her at amanda.rohde@austindailyherald.com