Each year thousands of schools in the United States participate in the National Geographic Bee using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society. The contest is designed to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, spark student interest in the subject, and increase public awareness about geography. Schools with students in grades four through eight are eligible for this entertaining and challenging test of geographic knowledge.
According to Jen Flook, Bloomsburg Middle School teacher, “We have participated for at least as long as I have taught here (6 years) but I am sure our participation goes back much further. Every student (6th-8th) in our middle school takes the oral test in his/her social studies class and the top 10 students in the school compete for first place. The winner is then given a written test in an attempt to reach the state competition. About three years ago we had a student who scored high enough to make it to states.”
Any school can participate in the competition by registering and requesting materials directly from National Geographic. In early September, principals must write a letter on school letterhead and enclose the early registration fee of $90.00, requesting that their school receive the contest materials. Each local school participating can then notify National Geographic of their winner to potentially be featured on their website.
The competition will take place at Bloomsburg Middle School’s gymnasium on January 12th at approximately 8:40 AM. You will need to sign in at the front office when entering the building. The students participating this year are:
- Jared Diehl 8th
- Coty Kashner 8th
- Noah Bella 8th
- Karl Gengler 8th
- Kevin Diehl 8th
- Madeline Polhill 7th
- Braydon Quintrell 7th
- Kevin DuBartell 7th
- Shannon Lavelle 6th
- Matt Lee 6th
Check back on Friday for “The View from Here” photos from our own Bob Rush!
[box type=”shadow”]Photo via Flickr.[/box]
I participated in the Geography Bee at the Bloomsburg Middle School when I was in eighth grade, back in 1995, so it’s been rolling along for at least that long. I qualified for the state tournament in Harrisburg, and it was a great experience that gave me a lot of confidence in myself moving on to high school. Best of luck to the current contestants!