National Geographic Bee
State Finals April 4 At WKU
March 14, 2003
Bowling Green, Ky. - One hundred of Kentucky's top geography students in grades four through eight will visit Western Kentucky University next month to compete for a spot in the finals of the National Geographic Bee.
The competition begins at 1 p.m. April 4 at the Knicely Institute for Economic Development with the preliminary rounds. Twenty students in five sections will compete for 10 spots in the championship round.
The Kentucky State Champion will receive a monetary award and a globe, along with an expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for the national competition. Runners-up receive globes and a monetary prize. Dr. David Keeling, head of WKU's Department of Geography and Geology, will moderate the championship round.
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.
The National Geographic Bee occurs in three stages, beginning at the school level. Each school winner takes a written test, and the top 100 scorers in each state and territory compete at the state level.
The 55 state and territory winners meet at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington for the national competition, where the number of contestants is narrowed to 10 finalists who compete for a $25,000 college scholarship.
The second- and third-place winners at the national level receive $15,000 and $10,000 scholarships, respectively. Alex Trebek, host of "Jeopardy," moderates the national competition.
The Kentucky finals this year are organized and hosted by the WKU Department of Geography and Geology, the Geography Club and teachers in middle-grades education from around the state.
For more information about the National Geographic Bee, visit the Bee website at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geographybee/ or contact Dr. David Keeling in the Department of Geography and Geology at (270) 745-4555 or at david.keeling@wku.edu.
More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
