The state champions of the 2002 National Geographic Bee were determined
in contests across the United States last Friday. The 55 champions,
representing every U.S. state and several territories, will gather in
Washington, D.C. on May 21 and 22 to determine this year's national Bee
champion—and who gets to win a college scholarship of
$25,000.
This year five million students from 15,000 schools
participated in the preliminary rounds of National Geographic's annual
Bee—testing their knowledge of the world's geography, economies,
politics, cultures and religions.
"The importance of the Bee is that it highlights the importance of geography—especially in today's climate—and that the leaders of tomorrow know their stuff," says Mary Lee Elden, director of the National Geographic Bee.
Alex Trebek, host of the popular quiz show Jeopardy will moderate the national competition which will air nationally the same day on the National Geographic Channel and will be shown later on public television stations. Check local listings for day and time.
The 2002 state champions—who are automatically entrants in the national competition— are:
Alabama
Carter Pelham, 8th grade, home school, Huntsville
Alaska
Yan Matusevick, 7th grade, Randy Smith Middle School, Fairbanks
Arizona
John Yatsko, 7th grade, McKemy Middle School, Tempe
Arkansas
Jacob Felts, 7th grade, Valley View Jr. High, Jonesboro
California
Henry Yin, 7th grade, Hopkins Jr. High, Fremont
Colorado
Isaiah Hess, 8th grade, home school, Colorado Springs
Connecticut
Aaron Kiersh, 6th grade, Bedford Middle School, Westport
Delaware
Sean O'Donnell, 7th grade, Corpus Christi School, Wilmington
Department of Defense schools (DoDDS)
Ryan Felix, 8th grade, Naples American High School, Naples, Italy
District of Columbia
Thomas Meyerson, 7th grade, Blessed Sacrament School
Florida
Daniel T. Turton, 8th grade, Indian Trails Middle School, Winter Springs
Georgia
Samuel Coffin, 5th grade, Brookstone Middle School, Columbus
Hawaii
Jerome Asuncion, 8th grade, Kamehameha Schools, Honolulu
Idaho
Alex Price, 8th grade, West Jr. High, Boise
Illinois
Parnell Dean, 8th grade, Mokena Jr. High, Mokena
Indiana
Erik Bolt, 8th grade, home school, South Bend
Iowa
Justin LeDuc, 8th grade, home school, Cedar Rapids
Kansas
Benjamin Detrixhe, 5th grade, Clyde Elementary, Clyde
Kentucky
Zia Choudhury, 6th grade, Lone Oak Middle, Paducah
Louisiana
Katherine Schulz, 8th grade, St. Mark, Chalmette
Maine
Charles Platt, 8th grade, Berwick Academy, South Berwick
Maryland
Timothy Mackie, 8th grade, home school, College Park
Massachusetts
Michael O'Keeffe, 8th grade, St. Catherine of Siena, Norwood
Michigan
Calvin McCarter, 5th grade, home school, Jenison
Minnesota
Nicholas Burkhart, 8th grade, Mankato East Junior High, Mankato
Mississippi
David Gagne, 8th grade, Rosa Scott Middle School, Madison
Missouri
Mallika Thampy, 8th grade, home school, St. Louis
Montana
Matthew Downhour, 8th grade, Helena Middle School, Helena
Nebraska
Evan Swan, 7th grade, South Sioux City Jr. High, South Sioux City
Nevada
Shana White, 8th grade, Thurman White Middle, Henderson
New Hampshire
Zachary Blatt, 7th grade, McKelvie Middle School, Bedford
New Jersey
Alexi Alferiev, 8th grade, Charles Lewis Middle School, Blackwood
New Mexico
Brock Haroldson, 8th grade, home school, Aztec
New York
Nathaniel Mattison, 8th grade, H.C. Crittenden Middle, Armonk
North Carolina
Alexander Smith, 8th grade, Turrentine Middle School, Burlington
North Dakota
John Rice, 8th grade, home school, Maddock
Ohio
Alyssa Lane, 8th grade, Hawkin Middle School, Lyndhurst
Oklahoma
Kevin Lopez, 8th grade, Haileyville Public School, Haileyville
Oregon
John Pascale, 7th grade, Lincoln Savage Middle School, Grants Pass
Pacific Territories
Jason Togi, 7th grade, Leatele Elementary, Pago Pago
Pennsylvania
Matthew Russell, 8th grade, Fretz Middle School, Bradford
Puerto Rico
Sherry Gong, 7th grade, St. Johns, San Juan
Rhode Island
Anthony Denice, 5th grade, James Eldredge Elementary, East Greenwich
South Carolina
Debbie Beihl, 7th grade, home school, Saluda
South Dakota
Zack Abrahamson, 8th grade, Southwest Middle, Rapid City
Tennessee
Christopher Blackwell, 8th grade, McCallie School, Chattanooga
Texas
Joshua Baumgartner, 8th grade, home school, San Antonio
Utah
Derek Wells, 5th grade, Pinnacle Canyon Academy, Helper
Vermont
Charles Barstow, 8th grade, Gailer School, Shelburne
Virgin Islands
Babatunde Lewis, 6th grade, Eulalie R. Rivera PDS, Kingshill
Virginia
Brian Cheng, 7th grade, Langston Hughes Middle School, Reston
Washington
Erik Miller, 8th grade, home school, Kent
West Virginia
Paul Andrew Dutton, 8th grade, Pleasants County Middle School, Belmont
Wisconsin
Matt Leveille, 8th grade, Wilson Middle, Appleton
Wyoming
Philip Michael, 8th grade, McCormick Jr. High, Cheyenne
Test your geographic knowledge with questions from previous National Geographic Bees. Go>>
