Whiz Kid: Evan Siira

The number of Wisconsin middle-school students who compete in their school's geography bee is in the thousands each year.

So you can imagine how tough it must be to make the state geography bee in Madison, much less place in the top five once you get there.

 seventh-grader Evan Siira did exactly that on Friday when he placed fourth in the Wisconsin Geography Bee, an accomplishment that nets him this week's Oak Creek Patch Whiz Kid.

Evan first won the St. Matthew School competition to qualify for state and then took a 70-question written test, which is scored by the National Geographic Society. The organization scores tests completed by more than 500 school champions from across Wisconsin, and the top 100 performers are invited to participate at the state geography bee. 

In Madison, Evan advanced through the preliminary rounds and made it into the final group of 10 before finishing fourth.

Know a great kid who made Eagle Scout? Did your local soccer team take the championship? They may be our next Patch Whiz Kid honoree. To submit a nomination, e-mail mark.schaaf@patch.com or use the comment section below.