Mantorville 8th grader wins school geography bee, besting hundreds

He’s a man of few words, but he does have a few insights about his recent Kasson-Mantorville Middle School Geography Bee win: “I was excited and happy.”
Luke Eagle, 13 years old, of Mantorville won the bee on April 2, fending off 300 hundred competitors. All of the school’s seventh and eighth graders participated in the bee.
Two participants scored 23/24 and Luke won by answering two of the three tie-breaker questions correctly. Finishing runner-up was Kaimbre Ann Hanson, a Kasson eighth grader.
Luke is an eighth grader at K-M Middle School and said geography is one of two favorite subjects, with English being the other. His parents are Jason and Rachel Eagle.
Luke will be recognized at his school with his name etched into a plaque hung in perpetuity, he will be awarded a certificate of recognition, receive a KoMet Koin and celebrate his achievement with a meal at the Hubble House in Mantorville with his family.
“He’s a great student,” said Aaron Wilke, Luke’s global studies teacher. “He’s attentive and pays attention and gets his work done.”
“It’s a really fun day in our social studies classes for seventh and eighth graders,” he said. ”It’s something we look forward to every year. It’s a great day. By the end of the day, we know who the winner is. And the kids get pretty excited about it as well.”
“I’ve been practicing placing things on maps all year in school,” Luke said. “That’s pretty much how I’ve gotten it. During the questions I felt good, but I wasn’t sure I’d win til I found out.”
How would you fare as a bee contestant? At the K-M Middle School bee this year, students had to answer questions such as:
“What is the name of the sea located between the Dardanelles Strait and the Bosporous Strait?”
Answer: Sea of Marmara
“Name the Benelux country that has two main culture and language groups: the Flemish speaking Flemings and the French speaking Walloons.”
 
Answer: Belgium
“Red diamonds are some of the rarest stones in the world. These diamonds are mined on what continent that borders the Coral and Timar Seas?Answer: Australia
“They start out easy and get harder as you go,” Wilke said. “They aren’t things most people know.”