Local Paper Will Livestream Annual Geography Bowl for Students

The Journal Courier will serve as primary sponsor and livestream host for the 33rd annual Geography Bowl, scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19, 2025. The competition features fourth and fifth grade teams from nine west central Illinois schools, with each team taking part from its own school while the overall contest is overseen at Jacksonville High School.

Organizers say the event remains student led. Members of the Jacksonville High School Geography Club design and moderate the contest, and competing teams submit answers through Google Forms. That mix of youth leadership and classroom participation is a hallmark of the long running event, which has become a staple of the fall calendar for elementary schools and families across the county.

For Morgan County residents the livestream offers a way for parents, relatives, and community members who cannot travel to Jacksonville to follow the competition in real time. School administrators noted that allowing teams to participate from their home buildings reduces the need for student travel on a weekday evening, a logistical ease that also has public health implications during cold season and periods when respiratory illnesses circulate. Remote participation can lower the number of in person contacts and ease transportation burdens for families juggling work and caregiving responsibilities.

At the same time the reliance on livestreaming highlights persistent equity concerns. Reliable home internet and device access vary across households in Morgan County, and families without strong broadband connections may find it harder to watch or to follow live scoring. The use of Google Forms and other online tools during the contest further underscores the need for schools to ensure equitable technology access for students so that remote participation is not only possible, but meaningful.

The event continues a three decade plus tradition that brings schools together in a friendly academic competition and gives local high school students experience in event management and instructional leadership. Community coverage by the Journal Courier as sponsor and host aims to broaden engagement and preserve visibility for the contest as schools plan extracurricular activities.

Residents interested in watching the Geography Bowl should look for the Journal Courier livestream on the paper's platforms on the evening of November 19. As local institutions balance in person and virtual programming, the competition offers a reminder that educational traditions adapt to community needs while also revealing gaps in access that policymakers and educators will need to address.