Andrew Wojtanik
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Andrew Wojtanik is an American author and winner of the National Geographic Bee hosted by Alex Trebek in 2004. His book, The National Geographic Bee Ultimate Fact Book: Countries A to Z, is based on the "monstrous packet" of notes he compiled to win the spelling bee.
Background
Wojtanik also won the National Geographic World Championship in 2005. To get to the National Geographic Bee finals, he survived two tiebreakers to advance to the final round against 13-year-old Matthew Wells of Montana, beating him to win a $25,000 scholarship.
He credits his success to a 384-page book he compiled, which is now an official study guide for the Bee, called "Afghanistan to Zimbabwe: Country Facts That Helped Me Win the National Geographic Bee", which was published in 2004. A second edition, "The National Geographic Bee Ultimate Fact Book: Countries A to Z", was published in 2011. Andrew lived in Overland Park, Kansas and in 2008 graduated from Blue Valley West High School. His family has since moved to Florida.
He attended Georgetown University, majoring in International Politics. There, he served as events director for the Georgetown College Democrats and was active in many other campus organizations. He now works for the Harvard Kennedy School[1] as a research assistant.
Reception
Library Media Connection called The National Bee Ultimate Fact Book "a handy book to have around for basic facts", particularly for social studies teachers, and "a good resource for daily trivia questions or area reviews".[2] School Library Journal rated the 2012 edition as a purchase librarians would not regret, noting that it includes fast facts, maps for visual context, and information on current world politics for 195 countries.[3]
Publications
- Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, by Andrew Wojtanik (ISBN 0-7922-7981-6)
References
- ^ "Andrew Wojtanik". Harvard Kennedy School. Archived from the original on June 12, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
- ^ Libra, Suzanne (2012). "The National Geographic Bee Ultimate Fact Book: Countries A to Z". Library Media Connection. Vol. 31, no. 3. p. 84. Retrieved September 25, 2024 – via EBSCOhost.
- ^ Connolly, Christina (2012). "The National Geographic Bee Ultimate Fact Book: Countries A to Z". School Library Journal. Vol. 58, no. 6. p. 5. Retrieved September 25, 2024 – via EBSCOhost.
- Kansas 8th Grader Wins National Geographic Bee, by Sarah Ives
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