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Miles Okamoto, a fifth grader at St. John’s Episcopal School, won the school’s Geographic Bee on January 12, earning a chance at a $25,000 college scholarship. The school-level Bee was the first round in the 22nd annual National Geographic Bee. Next, Miles, along with the state’s other school-level Bee winners, will take a written test. If he scores in the top 100 among Texas competitors, he will be eligible to compete in the April 9 state Bee. State Bee winners and their teacher escorts will receive all-expense-paid trips to Washington D.C. to compete in the national championship May 25-26. The national winner will receive a $25,000 college scholarship.
Competing against 28 other St. John’s Middle School students in the school-level, oral Bee, Miles won in the seventh round. Some questions were multiple choice; others fill in the blank. Students were eliminated upon missing two questions.
As the rounds progressed, the questions became more difficult. At the start of round 7, with only nine of the 29 original students remaining, the deciding question was “What large body of water separates the Delmarva Peninsula from the southern part of New Jersey?” The answer is Delaware Bay.
The nine finalists in the St. John's Bee were Miles Okamoto, Parker Allen, Parker Arnspiger, Helena Hunt, Brooks Johnson, Libby Kraemer, George Odom, Joe Racz and Dylan Welch.
Test your own geography knowledge by taking the GeoBee challenge at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/.
