Whiz Kid: Geography Star and Willow Creek Sixth-Grader Jonathan Jeske

Patch Whiz Kid of the Week

Name: Jonathan Jeske

Age: 12

School:

Accomplishment: Jonathan is headed to the state geography bee this Friday. To get there, he had to first win Willow Creek's geography bee. He then took a test and got one of the top 100 scores in the state. That qualified him to compete at the state level. Only one other Willow Creek student has advanced to the state competition since at least the 1980's, according to Carol Thygesen, Willow Creek LRC director. Fourth through sixth grade students are eligible to compete in the bee.

Key to Awesomeness: Jonathan said he likes to look at maps while his family is on vacation and look at Google Earth.

His mother, Rebecca Jeske, said he's very focused and has an excellent memory.

"It's not just the state geographic bee," she said. "He's good in reading, social studies, math, science. He's pretty bright and quick on the uptake on most things."

She said his social studies teachers make the subjects really interesting, and facts probably stick better with him because of that.

Thygesen said he's very bright and has a natural interest in geography and social students that allows him to take the things he learns in school and beyond and apply them. "The questions they ask (in the geography bee) are not things they study in school," Thygesen said. "You have to pay attention to the news."

Rebecca Jeske also said she thought his interest in geography came from both her husband's business trips and her own experience hosting foreign exchange students.

"Growing up, my family hosted a lot of foreign exchange students," Rebecca Jeske said. "My parents were the president and treasurer of the local AFS (American Field Service) chapter. I still keep track of some of the students. Sometimes we'll get chocolates from Switzerland. So he's had that exposure since he was little, asking where it comes from."