Thor Seay, a seventh-grader at Lake Hamilton Middle School, and Christopher Davidson, an eighth-grader at Lake Hamilton Junior High, are semifinalists in the 2020 National Geographic GeoBee State Competition.
The competition only allows fourth- through eighth-graders. This year, an estimated 2.4 million students competed in the GeoBee, with 8,661 students becoming school champions, according to a news release.
However, due to the coronavirus threat, the National Geographic Society canceled the state competition at the University of Central Arkansas.
"It's pretty neat knowing that you are in the top 100 students in geography," Seay said.
"It's exciting because you're of a select few around the state that gets to go to the (competition)," Davidson said.
Seay said he has always known history, but started to like the subject last year, noting history connects with geography.
At first, the competition was a school-wide event, where all the social studies teachers asked the students geography questions. Seay won for the middle school, and Davidson won for the junior high school. The students took an online test to see if they would place in the top 100 in the state and if they did, then they could go to state, he said.
"Every school winner takes the online National Geographic Qualifying test," Janet Calloway, director of gifted/talented and advanced placement, said.
Davidson said school officials asked the students if they wanted to join, and if they did, they had to sign up in the office. They got called into the science lab, where they answered questions for the competition. Students got moved out if they got the question wrong, and if students got the question right, they advanced to the next round.
"National Geographic supplies us with all the questions and some study guides and actually some classroom lesson plans if we want to use it that way. They give the kids study questions if they want to study online," Calloway said.
She said the National Geographic Society is trying to get the students interested in geography and learning about people in different areas and their cultures.
"It's not just looking at a map and saying 'OK, this is where that is,'" Calloway said.
Seay and Davidson prepared for the competition by studying. Calloway gave them a book last year on how to pass the geography exam, Davidson said.
One student from each state and territory will advance to the National Geographic GeoBee Championship, which will be May 18-21 at the NGS headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The National Champion will receive a $25,000 college scholarship, $1,000 in cash, a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society and an all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition to the Galápagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavour II.
The second-place winner will receive a $10,000 scholarship and $1,000 in cash; the third-place winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship and $1,000 in cash.
Local on 03/16/2020