The 29th Dr. Feinberg Geography Challenge has been scheduled! *FIRST TIME BEING HELD IN THE EVENING!*

This year’s Challenge will be held on Friday May 8, 2026 in the Burbank Gymnasium as follows:

Team Registration is now open! Please register ASAP - registration closes May 1st.

The Geography Challenge is a non-competitive display of students’ knowledge. As in past years, students form teams of 3 or 4 members and answer questions found in the Dr. Feinberg Geography Challenge Study Guides. Students who participate will have the opportunity to learn basic geography facts and terms.  

It is not necessary to memorize the entire study guide.  This is meant to be a fun learning experience. Some teams will break the study guide up and assign a section to individual members; others will just have all members study the entire guide. 

Teams will often dress up or make t-shirts/costumes to represent their team name - this is the really fun part!

*THIS YEAR, THE EVENT WILL NOT TAKE PLACE DURING THE SCHOOL DAY. THIS IS AN EVENING EVENT* 

We will need volunteers to help setup, run, and cleanup the event - please keep an eye out for a signup coming soon!

Please arrive on time! The Challenge operates on a very tight schedule, and we rely on students being there on time in order to begin the event.

Students lead the team formation but may need guidance from parents and/or the PTA and organizers. If your child needs help finding teammates, please email Callie Hill or Lindsay Doherty.  We will ensure that every interested child can participate. Teams must be made up of students in the same grade level, but the students do not have to be in the same classroom. Teams are comprised of 3-4 students; we do not recommend teams of 2 because if one child is out sick or otherwise cannot attend, it leaves a student on their own without a team. Teams of 5 are too big and won't allow us to fit students around a desk.  

Team registration is now open until May 1st. Students sign up as their team of 3-4, not as individual students. You will need each students’ names and team name to register.

Please only register ONCE per TEAM.  

This year's event will take place in the school gymnasium in the evening. Please arrive on time! Teams/families should enter through the double doors by the parking lot and wait in the lobby outside the gymnasium. Adults will be invited to enter the gym once setup is complete; contestants will wait in the lobby and enter the gym once their team name is announced. At the event's conclusion, families will exit through the back gym door leading to the blacktop.

The teams will be spaced out standing at desks equipped with dry erase boards/markers. During the event, the MC will ask teams ~10-15 questions from the study guide. The teams will have 30 sec to 1 min to record their answer on a dry erase board (correct spelling is not required). With 3-4 players on a team, there is a good chance that one of them will know the answer! The MC will then ask the teams to hold up their boards and will call on the individual team to give their answer. After the last team has answered, the MC will announce the correct answer.  This is then repeated for each question. The final question for all teams is to identify a flag that volunteers will hold up. Teams tend to rotate players so that each is given the opportunity to write and verbalize their answer, but this is not required.  

Participation in the Geography Challenge tends to be high, with 75% of all Burbank students electing to take part. The Geography Challenge is unique to Burbank - we are the only elementary school in Belmont that hosts this fun, educational activity.  

Fun, teamwork, learning, and enrichment are all part of the Geography Challenge!  If you have any questions after reading the registration materials, please contact one of the Geography Challenge co-chairs.  Our children have participated, and we can assure you this is a fun event and your children will surprise you with their geography knowledge at the end!  We hope that your child decides to participate this year.

Sadly, this is our last year at Burbank. If you have children in younger grades and would like to learn the ropes to keep this long-standing tradition going, please reach out.

Sincerely,

Callie & Lindsay

Lindsay Doherty lindsay.prendergast@gmail.com

Callie Hill callieannill@gmail.com

Geography Challenge Co-Chairs