SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — Tyler Hussey, a fifth-grade student at Marshwood Great Works School, has won the school competition of the National Geographic Bee and a chance at a $50,000 college scholarship. Eva Hersey came in second and Cal Branagan came in third with Mary Keene taking fourth place in the school competition.
Hussey and other school champions will take a qualifying test, then up to 100 of the top scorers on that test in each state will be eligible to compete in their state Bee on April 6.
The moderator was Grace Jacobs, a gifted education specialist; judges were Lori Girouard and Elizabeth Morrison, both teachers at GWS.
Many parents and grandparents attended the event to encourage these young minds. The school Bee had twenty participants. The school Bee, at which students answered questions on geography, was the first round in the 30th 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 2018 National Geographic Bee.
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 20-23. The first-place national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the society, including a subscription to National Geographic magazine, and an all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition to the Galápagos Islands aboard the new National Geographic Endeavour ll.
Second- and third-place finishers will receive $25,000 and $10,000 college scholarships, respectively.
National Geographic will air the final round of the National Geographic Bee Championship in May 2018. It will air later on public television stations; check local television listings for dates and times.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the National Geographic Bee.
Everyone can test their geography knowledge with the exciting Geo Bee Quiz, an online geography quiz at www.nationalgeographic.org/bee/study/quiz, which poses 10 new questions a day and with the National Geographic Geo Quiz Alexa skill, which releases six new questions a day.
For more information, visit www. nationalgeographic.org.