8th Grade student, Daniel Gronek, won the St. Joseph School competition of the National Geographic Bee on January 29th and a chance at a $25,000 college scholarship. Other finalists in the school Bee included: 2nd Place – Tessa McCabe, Grade 8; 3rd place – Rocco Rudnicki, Grade 6; and finalists Faustina Kohut and Brett McCarthy, Grade 5; Hannah Watson, Grade 6; Elizabeth Mahlert, Grade 7; and, Wiktoria Potem and Kai Lukasek, Grade 8. Daniel was also a finalist in 2019 and the school champion in 2018.
The school Bee, at which students answered questions on geography, was the first round in the 32nd annual National Geographic Bee, a geography competition designed to inspire and reward students’ curiosity about the world.
Thousands of schools around the United States and in the five U.S. territories are participating in the 2020 National Geographic Bee. The school champions, including Daniel, 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 27, 2020.
The National Geographic Society will provide an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. for state winners to participate in the Bee national championship rounds May 17-21, 2020. In 2019, the national champion received 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 received a $10,000 college scholarship and $1,000 in cash; third place received a $5,000 college scholarship and $1,000 in cash; and seven runners-up received $1,000 in cash each.
This year marks the 32nd 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.
