Student Places 2nd at National History Bee Championship

Fourth grade student Theo Grieb placed 2nd in the country as an Illinois representative in the National History Bee Championships in Orlando, Florida.

The National History Bee is a quiz competition for students that tests world history from thousands of years ago to the present. Interested students must pass an Online Regional Qualifying Exam to qualify for Regionals, and the top three finalists of each state’s Regional advance to Nationals.

Grieb got involved in the National History Bee last August, when Parker mom Pooja Chitgopekar brought the competition to his attention, and the rest is history.

The organization that runs the bee does not provide any outlines, study guides or topic lists for the national competitions. Instead, students must learn history on their own, and any topic is fair game. Since September, Grieb has been preparing for competition with study guides his dad makes using ChatGPT, with mom serving as coach after school. Grieb also taught himself by watching a treasure trove of documentaries and online videos and reading history books on his own time.

At the National competition in Orlando, Florida, Grieb placed 2nd overall among the 93 4th grade students participating, advancing him as one of the U.S. representatives who will compete in the International History Bee Olympiad in Paris, France this July.

While at the five-day National Championships, Grieb finished with strong scores in a number of other history events:

Grieb enjoyed making friends with other history lovers from around the country during the competition. But his favorite part was being the only bee participant to wear a different sports jersey every day during the competition (go Eagles!).

When sharing news of his accomplishments, mom Cari said, “This was a very long journey for Theo, but it would not have been possible without Ms. Berin and Ms. Marcus and all of Theo’s amazing classmates in 4B (and outside of 4B) who supported Theo throughout this process.”

Teacher Diane Berin noted that Grieb received the reception of a superstar athlete when he returned to class following the competition in Orlando. His peers have been very supportive of him in this endeavor throughout the year.

Parker congratulates Grieb and everyone in the community who encouraged and fostered this success. Join the school in wishing Grieb good luck in July!

You can watch a video of this year’s National History Bee National Finals here or click here for more.