Fifth Grade Student is History World Champion

This past summer, 5th grader Theo Grieb became the World Champion (Elementary Division) of the 6th International History Olympiad in Paris, France.

Grieb is the first participant from Illinois ever to be crowned an IHO World Champion, and the Parker community couldn’t be prouder of him.

Grieb’s 2nd place finish in the National History Bee Championships in Orlando, Florida last semester advanced him as one of the U.S. representatives invited to compete in the Olympiad.

The International History Olympiad is a biennial celebration of history welcoming the best primary and secondary school history students from around the world. The competition tests world history from thousands of years ago to the present. In the United States, interested students must pass an Online Regional Qualifying Exam to qualify for Regionals, and the top three finalists of each state’s Regionals advance to Nationals.

In July’s IHO competition, Grieb performed admirably and was instrumental in helping the state of Illinois finish with the 10th-most medals in the entire history competition—a significant feat given the relatively small fraction of participants representing the state at the event. Out of all IHO participants (Varsity, Junior Varsity, Middle School, Intermediate and Elementary Divisions), Grieb finished with the 9th-most medals overall as listed below:

Parker congratulates Grieb and his family on this amazing accomplishment!

Click here to watch his segment on the news!