Illing Middle School Geography Whiz to Compete in State Competition

Illing Middle School student Pat Levitt is brushing up on his geography skills.

The eighth grader recently won a school-wide geography competition and has since qualified to compete in the state Geography Bee at Central Connecticut State University this Friday, April 1.  

If he wins at the State level, Levitt will receive  $100 in prize money, the "Complete National Geographic" on DVD, and an all-expenses paid trip to the national finals to be held at National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D. C., in late May. The national competition will be televised the week of June 20 on the National Geographic Channel.

Organized by the National Geographic Society and sponsored by Google, the top prize at the national level is a $25,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the National Georgraphic Society, and an all-expenses paid trip for both the winner and a parent or guardian to the Galapagos Islands for a first hand wildlife and geographical experience. Second and third place winners will receive $15,000 and $10,000 scholarships respectively.

"Everyone at school was quizzed by teachers against everyone else, and then our teams competed against each other," said Levitt.  "Then the individual team winners competed against each other. There were three different rounds in the elimination qualifications, and at the end it was just between me and a seventh-grader. We went back and forth for quite a while," he said.

Levitt said the competition was finally decided when his opponent  got stumped on naming a major island in Hawaii besides Honolulu.  Levitt guessed correctly naming Oahu and that put him over the top.

The top ten national finalists from this year and last will be the pool from which a team of three will be selected to represent the United States in the National Geographic World Championship in the San Francisco area in July.

Levitt's win is just one more accolade for the accomplished student and athlete who first came to the United States from Thailand about eight years ago not knowing a single word of English.

"In both the first and second grades he was named the most improved student of the year," said his proud father, Donald Levitt. "And in the third grade he won a Board of Education Award."

Donald Levitt said the family bought a house when Pat was in the fourth grade, a move that required a change in schools, and it took his son about a year to get reacclimated. However, once settled, in the fifth grade he won a second Board of Education award.

A voracious reader, Pat Levitt ventured that some of what he knows about geography likely came from reading books. He said he would sometimes read 25 books a month when he was younger, adding that when he was into the Harry Potter series, he might easily read 200 or more pages a day.

"But if you really want to know what Pat is about, you have to look here," said Donald Levitt, leading into the kitchen area of their home.

There the table was covered with about a dozen trophys including three grand champion awards his son has won at Clayton's Kenpo Karate of South Windsor, where Pat is an adult brown belt as well as a student instructor. A student for only about two and a half years, his rapid advancement in the martial arts has resulted in his being moved out of the junior classes and in with the adults. 

"I also placed seventh in the country for archery for my age group," said Pat Levitt, who used to shoot at Hall's Archery range in town. "But I don't do that as much any more."

These days he is more into track and soccer, although he is on hiatus from the two sports while he mends a sprained ankle.

As for what he would do with the college scholarship if he did end up making it to the national competition and taking a top spot, Pat Levitt wasn't sure. 

"I'm just thinking about going to high school," he said. "Then I'll have to figure out what I want to do later."