FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 25, 2010 Contact: Kristie West Email: [email protected] Phone: (916) 691-7199
California Geographic Bee to be held at Cosumnes River College
Sacramento, CA- The 2010 California Geographic Bee will be held at Cosumnes River College on Friday, April 9 in the Recital Hall. The final round will begin at approximately 11:00am.
“CRC is proud to once again be hosting the Geographic Bee,” said Cosumnes River College President Deborah Travis. “These types of contests provide students an opportunity to better understand the world in which we live, with the goal of winning a college scholarship.”
Bees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students throughout the state to determine each school’s Geographic Bee winner. School-level winners then took a qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. In each of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Dependents Schools, and the U.S. territories, the National Geographic Society invited the students with the top 100 scores to compete at the state level.
There are several students from the Sacramento region who will competing in this year’s contest. They include: Jarrod Baniqued of Woodland, Kevin Chappelle of Roseville, Melanie Fu of Sacramento, and Eric McKinley of Carmichael.
The state winner will receive $100, the “National Geographic Collegiate Atlas of the World,” and a trip to Washington, D.C., where he/she will represent California in the national finals at the National Geographic Society headquarters, May 25-26, 2010. First prize in the national competition is a $25,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. Second- and third-place finishers receive $15,000 and $10,000 scholarships, respectively. Additionally, the national winner will travel (along with one parent or guardian), all expenses paid, to the Galapagos Islands to experience geography firsthand through up-close encounters with the wildlife and landscape of the islands.
The National Geographic Society developed the National Geographic Bee in 1989 in response to concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States. Even after Hurricane Katrina, one-third of Americans aged 18-24 could not locate Louisiana, and almost half could not locate Mississippi on a U.S. map. Only four out of 10 were able to find Iraq on a map of the Middle East. For additional information on the National Geographic Bee please visit www.nationalgeographic.com/geographicbee.
EDITORS NOTE: Prior to the state finals on April 9, the National Geographic Society will send out state-level press kits with additional information about the state- and national-level contests. If you are interested in receiving this information, or for other inquiries, please contact Stephanie Montgomery ([email protected] / 202-857-5838) or John McFeely ([email protected] / 202-857-7659) from the National Geographic Communications office. You may also contact the state Bee coordinator, Stephen Cunha, Director, California Geographic Alliance at (707) 826-4975 or [email protected] . Cosumnes River College is part of the Los Rios Community College District. ###