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LAPLACE — John L. Ory fourth grader Shawn Loupe staged an upset last week when he triumphed over fifth through eighth graders to claim the championship title in the school’s second annual National Geographic Society Geobee.

Shawn put his knowledge of continents, oceans, islands and other geographic features to the test and shined through four rounds of competition, including a championship tie breaker against a seventh grader. He correctly identified Laos as the country that borders Vietnam for the big championship win.

Assistant Principal Robert Schaff was impressed by Shawn’s tenacity as he prevailed through every round.

“To me, it’s an incredible achievement in the sense that he’s only a fourth grader, competing with fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth graders,” Schaff said. “Some have been on the earth four years longer and have had four more years of social studies than him.”

Every year, the National Geographic Society sponsors a Geobee structured similarly to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. All 50 states have a Geobee championship that selects sharp-witted students to compete at the national level in Washington D.C. for a chance at a college scholarship.

Available to fourth through eighth graders only, the Geobee starts at the classroom level.

This marks only the second year that a St. John the Baptist Parish School has participated in the Geobee. John L. Ory is the only school participating, and Schaff hopes student success will inspire other schools in the district to adopt the competition.

“John L. Ory took the lead in starting the Geobee because our school has high expectations that are set for itself and by others,” Schaff said.

Last year, John L. Ory eighth grader Kyla Cage became the first student in the district to advance to the Louisiana State Geobee Championship.

The first step of competition is a preliminary round that can be administered as an oral contest or a written test at the school level. John L. Ory opted for the written test, and all fourth through eighth graders studied for the exam with National Geographic Society resources.

The top scorers from each grade level were guaranteed to take five of the 10 spots in the final round. The other five competitors were the next five highest scorers overall, regardless of grade level.

It wasn’t easy for Shawn to step onto the auditorium stage to compete in the final round. He reminded himself that he is intelligent and brave, and he pushed all fear out of his mind to focus on the task at hand.

“I tried to not think about losing so I could calm down and not be nervous,” Shawn said. “I felt amazing when I won. I was crying tears of joy.”

As the first-place school champion, Shawn received a certificate and a medal from the National Geographic Society. A generous donation from Marathon Petroleum Company allowed him to also take home a $100 gift card. He’s not sure what to spend it on yet, but he enjoys LEGOs and board games.

Shawn becomes an explorer and a voyager inside and outside of school in his quest for knowledge. The book he received for Christmas, “100 New Ways to See the World at Home,” helped him prepare for the school’s Geobee, and he’s picked up a lot of fun facts in the process.

“In the USA, we dump over 800,000 tons of trash every single day. That’s more than 2.5 billion every year,” Shawn said.

While studying for the Geobee, Shawn was interested to learn that the word “state” is used interchangeably with the word “country” in regions outside of the United States.

Shawn may be headed for the state championships next. The day after his big win, he took an online state-qualifying test. Time will tell if he’s one of the 50 champions across the state eligible to compete at the next level.

Geography isn’t Shawn’s only area of expertise. He’s also a math whiz and John L. Ory’s fourth grade spelling bee champion.