Category Archives: school

2009 National Geographic Bee Champion Eric Yang

Thirteen-year-old Eric Yang of Texas swept the toughest National Geographic Bee to date—with a perfect score. The Griffin Middle Schooler from The Colony, Texas won the annual competition during a tie-breaker round with this question: “Timis County shares its name with a tributary of the Danube and is located in the western part of which European country?” The answer is Romania. By winning the competition Eric Yang gets a U.S. $25,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society, and a trip to the Galápagos Islands with Jeopardy! host and GeoBee moderator Alex Trebek.

Yang was one of ten finalists whittled down from 55 fourth to eighth graders during the GeoBee. The 55 contestants had beat out nearly five million students in their state bees to earn spots in the national championships. Second place goes to 14 year old Arjun Kandaswamy from Oregon.



Watch the tense final moments of the 2009 National Geographic Bee as host Alex Trebek grills the finalists in Washington, D.C. and crowns 2009 Geography Bee Champion Eric Yang

Media Attention Hinders Michelle Rhee’s Efforts to Reach Out to D.C. Teachers

In just under two years, School Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s “take-no-prisoners” approach to school reform attracted much attention from the national press. John Merrow reports on whether her growing media prominence is hindering her pursuit of a revolutionary new teachers’ contract.

Media Attention Hinders Rhee’s Efforts to Reach Out to D.C. Teachers

Kid Genius Raymond Zhang

Inside an innovative class for some of the world’s most brilliant kids. For 13-year-old Raymond Zhang, his school day begins before dawn with a donut on a plate for breakfast and a crisp copy of the New York Times in the car with dad. He likes to be informed. Raymond is a freshman at the University of Washington. (That’s in Seattle near Bill Gates). Read more about the kid genius at Nightline here.

Kid Genius Raymond Zhang

Dr. Jim Yong Kim – First Asian American to lead an Ivy League school

Earlier this week, Dartmouth College announced its new president, Dr. Jim Yong Kim. He becomes the first Asian-American to lead an Ivy League school and the 17th President of Dartmouth by the College’s Board of Trustees. You can watch the Introduction of Dr. Jim Yong Kim as 17th President of Dartmouth. More details here.

Dartmouth President-elect Jim Yong Kim – “Ivy League Milestone”

Dartmouth President-elect Jim Yong Kim – “Born in Korea”

Dartmouth President-elect Jim Yong Kim – “Why I became a doctor”

More about Dr. Jim Yong Kim

Dr. Kim trained as both a physician and anthropologist, receiving his M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard University. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Brown University in 1982. A former senior official at the World Health Organization and co-founder of Partners In Health, he is internationally acknowledged for his leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and other diseases. In 2004, in recognition of his many accomplishments, he was elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Kim has 20 years of experience in improving health in developing countries. He is a founding trustee and the former executive director of Partners In Health, a not-for-profit organization that supports a range of health programs in poor communities worldwide. In 2004, he was appointed director of the HIV/AIDS department at the World Health Organization, where he launched an initiative to dramatically expand access to HIV/AIDS treatment in low- and middle-income countries. By 2007, the initiative had helped to provide lifesaving antiretroviral therapy to approximately three million people worldwide and had accelerated global efforts to fight other diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria.

Dr. Kim is married to Dr. Younsook Lim, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Boston. The couple have two sons, one eight years old, the other born February 27.