Jan

2018 Fall GeoPlunge Tournament Recap

LearningPlunge held its 14th annual GeoPlunge tournament on December 11, 2018 at the National Portrait Gallery. The energy and excitement of 250 children from 28 schools and 60 volunteers is hard to describe! We had seven schools joining us for their first GeoPlunge tournament and 14 schools that have sent students for more than five years in a row.

After eight rounds of competition, teams from the following schools took home awards:

Combo 1: First place: Bruce Monroe ES (Ward 1), Second place: Friendship PCS: Woodridge (Ward 5)

Combo 2: First place: Eaton ES (Ward 3), Second place: Murch ES (Ward 3)

Combo 3: First place: Alice Deal MS (Ward 3), Second place: Ludlow Taylor ES (Ward 6)

Teams from the following schools won teamwork awards: Bancroft ES (Ward 1) Center City PCS, DC Prep-Benning MS (Ward 7), Hearst ES (Ward 3), Johnson MS (Ward 8), Ludlow Taylor ES (Ward 6), Oyster Adams ES (Ward 3), Savoy ES (Ward 8), Turner ES (Ward 8), Washington Global PCS (Ward 6), and a combination team with players from Ketcham ES (Ward 8) and Tyler ES (Ward 6)

Teams from the following schools won sportsmanship awards: Deal MS (Ward 3), Flint Hill ES (Fairfax County Public Schools), Ketcham ES (Ward 8), Kimball ES (Ward 7), Noyes ES (Ward 5), School Without Walls-Francis Stevens (Ward 2), Woodley Hills ES (Fairfax County Public Schools) and a combination team with players from Ross ES (Ward 2) and Eaton ES (Ward 3)

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). Many of these businesses also sponsor the tournament financially. This tournament was also made possible in part by a grant from the Capitol Hill Community Foundation plus in-kind donations from Starbucks at Liberty Place in DC and Wegmans Fairfax.