But when Elly Huston and her friend Rosa Repke heard their geography teacher explain the rules, they were all ears.

They were the only two eighth graders at Orono Middle School to enter a map-making contest, in which contestants create an artistic map to the theme of "Many Nations, One World."

There was the remote possibility of one of their maps being chosen out of nearly 1,000 entries in the United Stated to advance to international competition in Moscow, Russia, the site of this year's International Cartographic Conference.

Huston's map did just that. Her 11- by 17-inch map was the sole winner chosen from the States to send to international judging at the conference, which was held Aug. 4-10.

The talented soon-to-be ninth grader used colored pencils to draw a sun as the earth, with seven rays each shining out to a landmark from each continent.

She included landmarks she thought would be easy to recognize: the Statue of Liberty in New York; the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the Taj Mahal in Agra, India; the Eiffel Tower in Paris; Petrona Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia; and a penguin for Antarctica.

Huston, 14, printed off photos of the landmarks, then used the photos as models for her drawing during an intense two to three hour session after school.

"I just sat down and did nothing else but draw it," she said.

Huston didn't quite expect her entry to get past the U.S. competition.

Then she got a call from her geography teacher, Kelly Leibfried.

"I was really shook when he called me because no teachers would call your house," Huston said. "My jaw dropped and I didn't want to scream in the phone. So I hung up the phone."

Said Leibfried: "I would say she was shocked."

As the International Cartographic Conference wound down for scholars and scientists thousands of miles away in Moscow, in her Medina home Huston had yet to hear how her map did in the competition.

But she didn't have all day to dwell on it.

She had flute lessons later that day, just another activity she said took her away from what she really likes to do - read. This summer she's burned through about 25 books so far.

She also spends time creating posters, scrap-booking and using the computer to create art.

In seventh grade she won a contest that put her work on the cover of Orono Middle School's yearbook.

This school year, she plans to start her second year on the dance team and will be on the yearbook staff, a position which required an application essay.

She's had some encouragement from her friends, who compliment her on her artwork, she said.

Huston said her friend Repke drew a map that featured people from around the world.

Two of her friends won the yearbook cover contest this past year.

"Lots of my friends do art," she said.

And Leibfried acknowledged the role the 14-year-old's parents have played in encouraging her.

He said Huston wasn't always the center of attention in class, but still was engaged and "laughs at the jokes and she puts jokes out there."

He also said she's "seriously competitive."

"Even though she's quiet and conscientious, she's competing for those top grades," he said. "So she had a real desire to be extraordinarily successful at everything she had done."

Leibfried found out about the map-making contest through being a member of an organization called the Minnesota Alliance for Geographic Education.

The winners of the contest, which is open to children 16 and under from all 192 members of the United Nations, will be featured on United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) greeting cards.

Although Huston enjoys creating art, she said her favorite subjects are math and geography.

A couple summers ago, she planned to look up every country in the world and log the vital stats of each in a book.

But ... she didn't quite finish.

"I was going to do it this year but I never got started," she said.

Although she hasn't been outside the United States, if she has a say in it, she might just see some of the places she drew.

"I would love to travel the world," Huston said. "And I love to travel."