Seven students from Walton Farm Elementary School participated in the school-level competition of the National Geographic GeoBee on Jan 17, 2019. Fourth grade student Cameron Jones took first place with fellow fourth-grader Mehul Manoharan coming in second.
The school-level competition is the first round in the annual National Geographic GeoBee, a geography competition designed to inspire and reward students' curiosity about the world. Questions cover not only geography, but also cultures, physical features, history and earth science.
The National Geographic Society developed the GeoBee in 1989 in response to concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States. Over more than three decades later, 120 million students have learned about the world through participation in the GeoBee.
Cameron Jones and other champions from participating schools will move on to take an online qualifying test. From there, up to 100 of the top test scorers in each state will become eligible to compete in their State GeoBee. The winners of the State GeoBees receive an all-expenses-paid trip to National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., next May to participate in the GeoBee national championship competing for cash prizes, scholarships and an all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition to the Galápagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavour ll.
Congratulations to Cameron Jones and best of luck at the next level of the competition.
To learn more about the National Geographic GeoBee, click here.