National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C. is a hive of activity today, buzzing with some of the brightest grade school students in the U.S.– 54 boys and girls who won the National Geographic Bee State Championships.
Nearly 5 million students participated in the National Geographic Bee. The 54 state winners came to Washington to compete for the national championship.
I was a moderator in the preliminary round yesterday, and I can tell you that even though I have worked for National Geographic for 14 years I could not answer two-thirds of the questions I was reading. These students are phenomenal. There isn’t much they don’t know about geography — the margin between the winners and runners-up yesterday was a point or two, so close that it required a tie-breaker.
Now we can all join in the fun — and improve our geographic knowledge — by downloading the National Geographic Bee app. Ordinarily $1.99 for a download, it is free today and tomorrow. You may find more details here.
The preliminary round of the 23rd annual National Geographic Bee was held yesterday, Tuesday, May 24. The top 10 finishers — from a field of 54 state-level winners who took part in the prelims — compete in the final round to be held at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., today, Wednesday, May 25. First prize is a $25,000 college scholarship, lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society and a trip to the Galápagos Islands. Second- and third-place winners receive $15,000 and $10,000 college scholarships respectively.
The 10 finalists are:
- Andrew Hull, Alaska
- Luke Hellum, Arizona
- Tuvya Bergson-Michelson, California
- Nilai Sarda, Georgia
- Kevin Mi, Indiana
- Stefan Petrovic´, Kansas
- Karthik Karnik, Massachusetts
- Alex Kimn, South Dakota
- Tine Valencic, Texas
- Anthony Cheng, Utah
Watch this video for more about the National Geographic Bee:
