Student Competes in State Level National Geographic Bee in Albany

Driver Middle School 8^th grader Jeff Shi was among 100 young geography whizzes to travel to Albany on March 27 for the 2015 New York National Geographic State Bee, to test his knowledge of geography and compete for a chance to compete at the national level in May.

Although he did not advance to the next level, Jeff did Marcellus proud by scoring an impressive 6 out of 8 possible points. To earn a spot in the Albany contest, Jeff first had to win the school-wide competition in Marcellus, then take a written qualifying test.  Jeff is an amazing student who participates in many challenging activities.  He was well deserving of the spot in Albany. Thanks to Mrs. Pawlewicz and Mr. Mango for supporting his efforts in the competition.

Organized by the National Geographic Society, the “Geo Bee” is designed to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, to spark student interest in the subject and to increase public awareness about geography. The competition began in 1989 in response to concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States.

The National Geographic Society invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in the state Bees. Those 54 winners now advance to the national finals, which will be held in May in Washington.