Student wins first level of Geography Bee
An eighth-grade student at Redstone Middle School may have a chance to compete in the state level of the National Geographic Geography Bee, after winning the first level of the competition at her own school. Louise Cox, director of the district’s gifted program, said that Jessie Medofer took first place after two rounds in the geography bee at Redstone Middle School. Andrew Ferguson and Jeremy Kopacko were the first and second runners-up.
“We had everybody in the eighth grade participate in a preliminary round,” said Cox. “We had 10 winners from that round and then we had a final round in which they all competed. We had two winners and one runner-up. Between the two students, we had a round to qualify one for the state bee.”
Cox said that Medofer had to take a test to qualify for the state competition, and the National Geographic Society has said they will be notified in March if Medofer is chosen to participate.
“She took a test worth 70 points that we had to send in,” said Cox.
“They are going to take the scores from the tests and choose the top 100 scoring students from each state.”
Cox said the state level of the geography bee will held on April 1, but the location has not yet been disclosed.
She said that in the state level competition, cash awards and prizes will be given to the top three students in each state.
Cox said that the first-place winner from each state competition will move on to the national competition, which will be held at National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington, D.C., on May 24 and 25.