Ten students at Cleveland Elementary School competed against one another Friday morning in the National Geographic Bee.
The National Geographic Bee, sponsored by the National Geographic Society, is a competition where fourth through eighth grade students in all fifty United States, the Atlantic Territories, the Pacific Territories, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools participate in a contest designed to encourage teachers to include geography in the classrooms and get students interested in the subject.
The finalists from each school across the state take a qualifying test to see if he or she can qualify for the state bee. The top 100 scorers in each state or territory advance to the state level competition. All of the state bees are held on the same date and at the same time at all locations. The 54 state champions receive an all-expense paid trip to Washington D.C. for the national competition.
Luke Stilson took first place in this year’s geographic bee with Dani Jo Thatcher taking second and Cannon Sharp coming in third. The other seven competitors were Madison Clifford, Stockton Jensen, Katie Christensen, Zac Hadfield, Talyn Scott, Russel Miera and Shyanne Jensen.