Whiz Kid of the Week: Adrienne Sarasy

Adrienne Sarasy was shocked when she won a geography bee at her school, , last year.

Then in seventh grade, Adrienne had recently memorized all of the countries in the world and their capitals for class. She had also started working and studying to learn more about history and geography.

Now in eighth grade, Adrienne not only won her school’s geography bee, but she passed a geography test with the National Geographic Society and was automatically qualified for the state finals National Geographic Bee with 99 other California students her age.

The state-level competition will take place in Sacramento this Friday. The winner of California will compete with one student from each state in the national championship in Washington D.C. on March 24-25.

Adrienne said her fascination with geography began to develop through playing educational games with her father and traveling all over the world with her family.

Adrienne and her family have been to Japan, where her mother’s family is from, and Europe, Australia, Mexico and across America.

Each of Adrienne’s trips have deepened her interest in the cultural and historical significance of each country she visited and inspired her to continue to learn and grow in her studies of history and geography, she said.

One of Adrienne’s favorite regions to study is the Middle East because of the role that it played in defining world civilization as well as the complexities of today’s events.

Adrienne’s teacher, Corey Paulson, said he has been delighted to have Adrienne in her class both last year and this year.

“Adrienne is a very dedicated student and she has a great memory. She is so dedicated and interested in geography and current events that she reads the Washington Post every day,” says Paulson.

Paulson will travel with Adrienne to Sacramento on Friday for the National Geographic Bee.