Nicholas Navarro wins the Archbishop Neale School Geographic Bee

Moves One Step Closer to $25,000 College Scholarship.

Nicholas Navarro, an eighth grade student at Archbishop Neale School, won the school-level competition of the National Geographic Bee held on January 11, 2008, and a chance at a $25,000 college scholarship. Second place winner was Kelly Friedberg and Garrett Moreland placed third.  “The entire team did a great job and students really enjoyed this event”, said Terry Comstock, ANS Social Studies teacher and Geography team coach.  “Geography is so important and it is so much more than just the name of a town or a place on a map. It’s about people and cultures. It’s about economies and politics.”  The oral questions reflected this and, as the level of difficulty increased, parents and students cheered as the ANS team continued to give correct responses! 

The school-level Bee was the first round in the 20^th annual National Geographic Bee.  Navarro will now take a written exam and, based on his score, be eligible to compete at the state level on April 4, 2008.  The winner of each state will go to the national finals for a 2-day televised competition on May 20-21 and the winner gets a $25,000 college scholarship.

Organized by the National Geographic Society, this contest is held across the country for students in fourth – eighth grade in thousands of schools across the country and in the five U.S. territories, as well as in the Department of Defense Dependents Schools around the world.  “Geography can be imbedded in every subject of the curriculum”, said Comstock.  “We need to prepare our students for a global future, not just a local future”.

Pictured from left to right are: Kelly Firedberg; Garrett Moreland; Rachel Sapienza; Daniel Murphy; Victoria Fitzgerald; Cori Eisele; Steven Ritter; and Nicholas Navarro