A seventh-grade student from Morgantown is representing West Virginia in Washington, D.C. this week, and he’d have no trouble finding the nation’s capital — or many other places — on a map.
Andrew Christy, who attends St. Francis Central Catholic School, is among 54 students competing in the 25th Annual National Geographic Bee.
Christy, 12, told MetroNews he’s spent the past several weeks getting ready for the competition.
“We have a binder full of all of the countries and maps of them, so I’m looking at that,” he said. “I’m reading books, doing online quizzes. We watched last year’s Geography Bee. I knew a lot of those, so I’m getting confident.”
This is the second consecutive year Christy has competed in the bee. His goal is to make it to the final round this year.
“I like being in competitions,” Christy said. “I’m kind of competitive.”
The bee begins Monday and runs through Wednesday.
The top 10 finalists will compete in Wednesday’s final round, which will be shown on the National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD at 7 p.m. Thursday. “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek will moderate it.
The National Geographic Bee, an educational program from the National Geographic Society, is open to students in fourth through eighth grades. The grand prize is a $25,000 college scholarship.