The West Virginia competitors earned their place by winning local Geography Bees and then earned a top score on a written exam prepared by the National Geographic Society. Geography Bees also will be held April 5 in the other 49 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. The National Geographic Bee is May 21-22.
The State Geographic Bee will be held at the Charleston Civic Center.The preliminary rounds will be held at 10:00 a.m. with the final round beginning at 1:00 p.m. in West Virginia Rooms 104-105.
In Friday’s Geographic Bee, the State winner receives $100 and other prizes, along with an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D. C., with a teacher escort for the national finals. The national competitors will be vying for a $25,000 first-place college scholarship and lifetime subscription to National Geographic magazine; second and third place winners will receive $15,000 and $10,000 scholarships, respectively.
The National Geographic Society developed the National Geographic Bee in response to concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States. In a 10-country Gallup survey conducted for the Society in 1988 and 1989, Americans 18-24, the youngest group surveyed, scored lower than their counterparts in the other countries tested.
For more information, contact Sharon Flack, 304-558-7805.