WVCSD Superintendent’s Spotlight: Bay Orr
WVMS sixth grader Bay Orr loves to travel with his family and has recently begun competing (quite successfully!) in national geography and history bees. In his free time, Bay explores cartography, studying atlases and drawing the countries of other continents from memory. Bay said he remembers the spark that ignited his interest in geography and maps.
“My gym teacher at Park Avenue challenged me to memorize every single state capital. It was pretty fun, so I decided to take it a step further and learn more about the states. That, and I’ve always been fascinated by maps.”
His interest quickly expanded to the countries of North America, and then the globe. It’s no surprise, then, that Bay loves studying Geography and History with Ms. DiGiantommaso and Ms. Chenoweth.
“Bay is one of the most self-motivated students we’ve ever had,” said Ms. Chenoweth. “And he’s the only student I’ve ever known who carries around an atlas. He can draw almost every continent from memory, with its exact borders and capital city.”
She said Bay can tell you most of the countries’ populations, too.
“I’ve never had a geography student like him,” she added. “He raises the level of the discourse in our class every day.”
Recently, Bay medaled in the regional round of both the International Geography Bee and the National History Bee.
“Second place, I believe, which I am pretty proud of,” said Bay. “A guy named Jack beat me. Then, I became friends with him. I guess you can say we’re rivals, but he’s a nice guy. It’s a friendly rivalry that makes us both grow.”
His performance at the regionals means that Bay is qualified for the 2023 Elementary and Middle School Championships in the nation’s capital on June 1-4, 2023. And looking ahead to July, Bay is planning to compete at the International History Olympiad on July 23-31. That competition takes place every two years in Rome, Italy.
That would be another stamp for the Bay family, who all love travelling, to add to their passports. Just this year, Bay has also visited Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
“I’ve been to a few countries; I guess a good amount for my age,” Bay said. “I helped navigate a little bit in Canada, since we had international data issues. It’s fun to travel, you get to see new places and meet new people.”
Bay also plays violin in the orchestra and enjoys getting outside for some competitive sports. He manages to get in a tennis match or two each week, and has been playing golf regularly with his mom and dad since he was six years old.
“I’m not amazing at it, but I’m not bad at it,” he said about his golf game. “I know a good stroke, and I know a few techniques.”
As much as he loves the links, practicing his golf swing is on hold temporarily as Bay “plots his course” to victory at the championships in Washington, DC. Good luck, Bay!
