From left: 3rd Place Finisher Francisco Gonzalez-Berrington (6), 2nd Place Finisher Will Lankenau (8), GeoBee Moderator and 5th Grade Teacher Kelly Tanzi, and School Champion Areg Louis Devoyans (5).
Students from The Woods Academy in Bethesda participated in the school-level competition of the National Geographic GeoBee on Jan. 28. Areg Louis Devoyans, a 5th Grade student, won first place, with Will Lankenau, an 8th Grade student, winning second place and Francisco Gonzalez-Berrington, a 6th Grade student, finishing third place.
The school-level competition is the first round in the annual National Geographic GeoBee, a geography competition designed to inspire and reward students' curiosity about the world. Questions cover not only geography but also cultures, physical features, history, and earth science.
The National Geographic Society developed the GeoBee in 1989 in response to concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States. Over more than three decades, 120 million students have learned about the world through participation in the GeoBee.
School champions, including Areg Louis Devoyans, will take an online qualifying test; up to 100 of the top test scorers in each state then become eligible to compete in their State GeoBee. The winners of the State GeoBees receive and an all-expenses-paid trip to National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., next May to participate in the GeoBee national championship, competing for cash prizes, scholarships and all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition to the Galápagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavour II. Learn more at www.natgeobee.org.