Augustine, the International History Olympiad

ANOTHER UPDATE: Augustine has conquered The Eternal City!

Augustine and family just returned home from a very hot and steamy Rome, where he won a silver medal in the hexathlon (!) and fifth place for the International History Bowl in the elementary division. Fifth place in the world!! Competitions were held in historic sites like in the shadow of the Colosseum and St. Peter's Square. (The operative word here is "shade," as temperatures in the Italian capitol soared throughout the Wang-Zhao family's trip.) The whole family is reunited again and recovering from the whirlwind of the last two weeks. They wish to thank you for all your support of Augustine and his passion for history. They couldn't have done it without you.

Jaime

UPDATE: Thanks to all of YOU, Augustine is going to Rome!

With a special boost from the storytellers at The Tribune, we raised $10K+ for a special young historian and his family. We'll keep you posted here on how he fares in the Eternal City. Until then, please accept our heartfelt thanks for all the support. You've given us all a gift!

Friends and fans of Augustine

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Meet Augustine, a very special 9-year-old historian who attends Bishop's Peak Elementary School in San Luis Obispo, California. He has earned the honor to compete at the International History Olympiad in Rome this July, but his family needs your help to get him there.

The (remarkable) backstory:

In preschool, Augustine started asking his parents questions about history. Then in first grade, he started reading books about history and has never stopped. Since then, he has read up to 100 history books each year, especially loving the details of historical events, like which weapons soldiers used during the American Civil War, or lesser-known history like the Football War, fought between Honduras and El Salvador in 1969.

All on his own, Augustine set himself up to compete in the California Regional History Bee at USC last March and won for the elementary division.

Then he went to Washington D.C. in May and came in fourth out of hundreds of other top elementary historians in the country.

And because he got that far, he qualifies for the International History Olympiad in Rome this July.

This is a big deal, but his family needs help to get him there. Between lots of expenses for medical needs and the stretch of flying Augustine and his dad to Washington D.C. just a month ago, they're not in a position to send him to Rome.

That's where the community comes in, those of us who live near Augustine, go to school with Augustine, love history, love kids — and love kids who love history!

Augustine and his parents Jack and Yuting have calculated that they need $10,140.63 (to be exact) by July 10 to go to Rome for the International History Olympiad. This covers airfare, lodging, dining, local transportation, and tournament registration for Augustine and his parents.

Our resident young historian has been studying like crazy to be fighting fit, spending hours every day immersed in books and on Wikipedia. Please give what you can to support him in his dream of competing in Rome. (With a name like Augustine, how can you resist?) This is the chance of a lifetime, and his friends believe he has the talent and persistence to ultimately declare "veni, vidi, vici!"

With appreciation,

Friends and Fans of Augustine