Can you place Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia or Ghana on a map? Do you know Senegal from San Marino and Seychelles?

From the middle of Term 3, our Murtoa hallways have been adorned with information about the countries of the world, and our library staff have curated a collection of books about exotic places. While COVID-19 restrictions may have clipped our wings with world travel, it has not stopped our middle school students from exploring the world. Participating students were challenged to memorise every single country, culminating in a “Global Showdown” between Year 7 and 8 participants. It was extraordinary to watch the students in action as they furiously labelled the countries with precision and laser-sharp accuracy. Students were given 15 minutes to list 197 world countries. Kelsey 8DLAN was able to do this with 100% accuracy in under nine minutes and Ky 8SCOO in only 13 minutes. It was especially impressive to watch Henry 7SPAC label over 40 countries of Europe on a map in less than 1 minute 17 seconds.

Hearty congratulations to Kelsey, our overall Global Challenge Champion, and to Henry, our Year 7 Champion. All participating students should be congratulated on their hours of preparation leading into the competition and their strong performance on the day.

Emma Rieger
Enrichment and Extended Learning