43
Palagano's geography knowledge spans the globe
Photo
Neighbors | Sarah Foor .After a great showing at the Ohio Geography Be, and a year of intense studying, state second-place winner Michael Palagano (right) shared a relaxed smile on April 6 with his longtime coach, Glenwood social studies teacher Vince Carnevale.
By SARAH FOOR
The Gulf of Paria separates the island of Trinidad from what country?
For some, this question might be met with a long, confused silence.
For Michael Palagano, with his vast knowledge of rivers, cities, countries, and land masses, he can easily answer.
Venezuela.
The Glenwood Middle school eighth-grader recently took his extensive knowledge of geography to the Ohio Geography Bee and brought home second place in the competition.
Palagano has participated in the bee, available to students in fourth through eighth grade, since his fifth-grade year. He has been a school finalist since fifth grade, and last year, finished sixth in the state competition.
Social studies teacher Vince Carnevale has coached Palagano since he began.
“Geography has a bit of everything , so we’re often making up the process as we go. I create maps and quizzes, or Mike works really hard at home with his family, studying atlases, asking questions, studying culture. Every year, he’s gotten better and better. We spent less time reviewing this year and explored many places on a deeper level,” Carnevale explained.
At the competition in Columbus on April 1, Palagano zoomed through eight preliminary rounds without missing a question. The Glenwood student missed a sudden-death overtime question and landed his second-place prize.
“I can’t lie — I took it pretty hard at first. I wanted to be that state champion,” Palagano admitted. “But, I know it’s an amazing achievement to get this far. I beat 98 other people in the state, and if you really think about it, I’m one of the top 108 in the country. I’m proud of that.”
Palagano’s last year in Geography Bee and his impressive finish had him thinking a lot about the world he has studied so much.
“I love traveling, and I loved every trip I’ve taken. I’d like to visit Antarctica one day, I think. It’s like a completely different world down there,” Palagano said.
Carnevale lent his support to Palagano’s dream trip.
“It would be great for Mike to actually see some of the places he’s spent so many hours studying. He has knowledge of the world that is really special. I know he’ll run with it.”