8th Grade student, Caroline Villa, won the St. Joseph School competition of the National Geographic Bee on January 28th and a chance at a $25,000 college scholarship. Other finalists in the school Bee included: 2nd Place – Sophia Buffone, Grade 7; 3rd place – Amelia Duquette, Grade 5; and, finalists Brayden McNair, Grade 5; Justin Dooner, Krystian Kowalczyk, and Grace Pomfret, Grade 6; Daniel Gronek, Matthew Krycinski, and Grace Scott, Grade 7.
The school Bee, at which students answered questions on geography, was the first round in the 31st annual National Geographic Bee, a geography competition designed to inspire and reward students’ curiosity about the world.
Thousand of schools around the United States and in the five U.S. territories are participating in the 2019 National Geographic Bee. The school champions, including Caroline, will take a qualifying test; up to 100 of the top scorers on that test in each state will then be eligible to compete in their state Bee on March 29, 2019.
The National Geographic Society will provide an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. for state winners to participate in the Bee national championship rounds May 19-22, 2019. The national champion will receive a $25,000 college scholarship, $1,000 in cash, a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society, and a trip to the Galápagos Islands; second place will receive at $10,000 college scholarship and $1,000 in cash; third place will receive a $5,000 college scholarship and $1,000 in cash; and seven runners-up will receive $1,000 in cash each.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the National Geographic Bee. The National Geographic Society developed the National Geographic Bee in 1989 in response to concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States. St. Joseph School has participated in the National Geographic Bee since its inception.
Everyone can test their geography knowledge with an online geography quiz.
