Berkeley Springs High School 10th grader Oliver Jurick was one of 38 national finalists to compete in the National Geography Bee last Saturday, May 16 in Cambridge, Mass.
Jurick qualified for the national geographic knowledge competition after participating in several rounds of qualifiers at Berkeley Springs High School and through an online qualifier. History teacher Joey Giles organized Berkeley Springs’ participation in the nationwide contest and helped arrange Jurick’s participation in the national final.
This is the first year of the National Geography Bee – a successor to the National Geographic GeoBee, which ran from 1989 to 2019. It stopped during COVID and was not restarted. Two former winners of the GeoBee – Rahem Hamid and Pranay Varada — who were classmates at Harvard University decided to resurrect the geography challenge.
In 2026, more than 6,000 high school students in 14 states participated in the National Geography Bee through their high schools. 40 finalists were chosen and 38 competed during the National Competition in the Boston area.
Jurick was the only student from West Virginia to make it to the National Competition.
He competed against high school students from 9th to 12th grade from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Connecticut, Texas, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maine, New Hampshire, Maryland and Minnesota.
After a 12-question preliminary round that tested the students’ American and international geographic and cultural knowledge, 10 top competitors advanced to the final round to vie for the top three spots and prizes.
Questions mixed historical events and significant landmarks with physical geography facts to challenge the participants during timed rounds.
Jurick missed reaching the top 10 slots, but finished 13th of 20 in his preliminary round.
Interested in the world
Jurick said he has always been interested in maps, globes and history. He was surprised to have qualified so quickly for the national competition.
“I found it a great opportunity to display all the hard work I’ve put into studying geography over the years,” he said.
He said he finds geography, maps and history interesting.
“My interest comes from a desire to understand the world I live in,” Jurick said.
Event organizers applauded the efforts of the students to pursue their interest in geography and world knowledge, and encouraged all to continue their pursuit of learning.
Jurick said he enjoyed participating in the contest, which he called “challenging.” He said the event was well run, went smoothly and was well-arranged.
“I thought it was a pretty good competition at the high school level. Hopefully the Bee continues to exist and the high school continues to participate in it,” he said.
“They certainly tested my knowledge of geography,” he said of the national competition.
“I’m very appreciative of the Bee and the Morgan County School Board for providing funds for me and my family to be able to travel to attend,” he said.
Jurick is a rising junior. He’s active in the Social Studies National Honor Society and is co-captain of the Berkeley Springs High School Quizbowl team. He is an active parishioner at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Berkeley Springs and completed a 72-mile walk on the Camino de Santiago in Spain over Spring Break with several other local parishioners. He is the son of Kate Shunney and Jeff Jurick.
