The Villager Newspaper Online Your Community News – Cleveland's Westshore
Lee Burneson Middle School eighth grader Kyle Yu, 13, defended his title at the
state Geographic Bee on April 4 and will now represent Ohio again at the
National Geographic Bee next month in Washington, D.C.
Kyle beat out about 100 other fourth through eighth graders for the state title,
which he also claimed in 2013. The national finals will be held May 19-21 and the
winner will be crowned the 26th National Geographic Bee champion.
Kyle said he studies atlases, likes geography and is ready for this year’s
competition. Last year he made it to the tiebreaker round at the national level.
He won the state Bee by identifying the Kara Sea as separating the Novaya
Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean and the Taymyr Peninsula.
School-level winners took a qualifying test and the top 100 scores were named
semifinalists and eligible to compete at the state Bee. As the state winner, Kyle
received $100, the “complete National Geographic” on DVC, and a trip to
Washington, D.C., to represent Ohio in the national finalist at the National
Geographic Society headquarters. The first place national winner receives a
$50,000 college scholarship and a lifetime membership in the National
Geographic society, as well as an all-expenses paid trip to the Galapagos
Islands.
Preliminary rounds of the national contest will take place May 19. The
championship round featuring the top 10 finalists – moderated by award-wining
journalist Soledad O’Brien – will be held May 21. The National Geographic
Channel and Nat Geo Wild will air the final round of the 2013 National
Geographic Bee at 7 p.m. on May 22.
For more information on the National Geographic Bee visit
www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee.
