Geography Bowl:
On November 7, the annual GeoBowl took place in the Student Center Frey Suites in front of a raucous audience of over 100 students. Eight 2-person teams vied in a single-elimination format to be crowned this year’s Geography trivia champions.
The Geography Bowl was established at WSC in 2011 by geography professor Lesli Rawlings. Dr. Randy Bertolas acted as moderator and History professors Eric Colvard, Jason Eden, and Phillip Fox served as judges.
Contestants were asked a variety of geography-themed questions such as, “Name an African country with exactly four letters in its name” (A: Togo, Chad, or Mali) and “Established by Congress in 1872, name the first U.S. national park” (A: Yellowstone).
Drawings for door prizes were held periodically throughout the event. Lucky audience members went home with armloads of maps, globes, and WSC swag.
In the competition’s Final match, the “Cart(ography) Heads” team of Sam Lewis (geography major from Kearney) and Tania Vitales-Kadlec (early childhood major from Norfolk) took on the “Hazard & Disaster” team of Nate Fletcher (geography major from Yutan) and Madalyn Johansen (geography major from Osceola). The Cart Heads came out on top 18-7 to claim this year’s bragging rights as well as $50 gift certificates from Godfather’s Pizza.
In the themed costumes competition, the ”Corn Trotters” team of Dalton Hansen (social studies education major from Lincoln) and Ryan Thompson (social studies education major from Papillion) were voted by the audience as Best in Show and received National Geographic world atlases.
The WSC GeoBowl is held annually in November during national Geography Awareness Week. GAW was proposed by the National Geographic Society and established in 1987 by presidential proclamation. GAW provides a dedicated time for schools, educators, and organizations to focus on geography-related activities and initiatives.
(Left to right) Lesli Rawlings, Tania Vitales-Kadlec, Sam Lewis and Bertolas celebrating the team’s victory.
Festival of Trees:
This year’s [anonymous] judges have made their decisions. The entry deemed “Best in Show” is from Sigma Tau Delta (photo below), the international English honor society. Get literate wit’ it, Sigs!
Handsome award certificates in several additional categories were also placed in Festival tree branches earlier today. Congratulations to all the entries for brightening up the Kanter Student Center atrium. Donations to the Festival are still being accepted, with all proceeds going this holiday season toward purchase of clothing & toys for Wayne County children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
This year’s winning tree.
Pi Gamma Mu Convention:
Four WSC students along with four WSC faculty and staff trekked to Philadelphia, PA to attend the triennial Pi Gamma Mu Student Convention held from November 1-3.
The four students were Kylie Cautrell, geography major from Hoskins; Rebecca Hart, criminal justice and human services major from Wahoo; Sara Lundeen, a May graduate in history from Axtell; and Erin Zulkoski, criminal justice major from Grand Island. Each had submitted a research paper that was accepted by a judging committee for presentation at the convention. Three of the WSC student papers were selected as Top Ten award recipients among all student submissions to the convention. Cautrell, Lundeen, and Zulkoski were each presented $200 cash prizes at the convention’s awards banquet.
Also honored at the awards banquet was Lisa Nelson, WSC Director of Service-Learning, who received the prestigious Pi Gamma Mu Outstanding Alumni Award. Director Nelson was initiated into PGM as an undergraduate at Wayne State College over twenty years ago. Since then she has risen from assistant to Director of WSC’s nationally recognized and award-winning Service Learning program. Ms. Nelson also serves as a co-advisor of WSC’s Nebraska Delta chapter of Pi Gamma Mu.
WSC emeritus professor of sociology, Dr. Jean Karlen, was also recognized at the convention for her many years of service on the Pi Gamma Mu board of directors. And WSC professor of geography, Dr. Randy Bertolas, was acknowledged for his 23 years and counting as the Nebraska Delta chapter advisor. Karlen, Bertolas, and professor of geography Dr. Lesli Rawlings also presented a poster at the conference detailing the history of WSC’s Nebraska Delta chapter.
Pi Gamma Mu is the international honor society in the social sciences. The society was founded in 1924 at Southwestern College in Kansas, and PGM observed its centennial celebration at the Philadelphia convention. Today, there are over 150 active Pi Gamma Mu chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and overseas.
Pi Gamma Mu members posing for a photo at the convention in Philadelphia.