Winners of 13th Annual GeoPlunge Youth Competition Announced

 [Washington, DC] – [June 4, 2018] — Approximately 160 Washington area students and 60 volunteers gathered last week for the 13th annual spring GeoPlunge tournament. GeoPlunge is an academic competition showcasing students’ geographic literacy, critical thinking, and teamwork where teams of three compete in head-to-head competition against other teams.  There were four levels of competition with beginners playing in Combo 1, a combination of four different games, to the highest level of competition in Combo 4.   After seven rounds of competition, teams from the following schools took home awards: 

Combo 1:  First place: Inspired Teaching School (Ward 5), Second place: Bruce Monroe ES (Ward 1)

Combo 2:  First place: Murch ES (Ward 3), Second place: School Without Walls-Francis Stevens (Ward 2)

 Combo 3: First place: J.O. Wilson (Ward 6), Second place: Washington Global Public Charter School (Ward 6)

 Combo 4:  First place: Alice Deal MS (Ward 3), Second place: Louise Archer ES (Fairfax County Public Schools)

Teams from the following schools won teamwork awards:  Woodley Hills ES (Fairfax County Public Schools), Washington Global Public Charter School (Ward 6), Tyler ES (Ward 6)

Teams from the following schools won sportsmanship awards:  Friendship PCS-Woodridge (Ward 5), Noyes ES (Ward 5), Hart MS (Ward 8), Ludlow Taylor ES (Ward 6) and two teams comprised of students from multiple schools including Eaton ES (Ward 3), Stoddert ES (Ward 3), School Without Walls-Francis Stevens (Ward 2) and Bruce Monroe ES (Ward 1)

 The volunteers supporting the event represented an array of local businesses including law firms Hogan Lovells, Arent Fox, and Kelley Drye & Warren plus representatives from Veris Consulting, the American Geographical Society (AGS), United States GeoSpatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), and other GeoSpatial-Intelligence (GEOINT) community members such as National GeoSpatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), BAE Systems and esri.

For the last 13 years, LearningPlunge, a nonprofit organization with a mission to empower children through igniting their passion to learn, has collaborated with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs to organize partnerships between Washington, D.C. schools and city businesses and law firms. The volunteers work with the students to improve their geospatial literacy, social skills, and critical thinking through the GeoPlunge game.