Geography bee winners announced for The Jefferson School

Students at The Jefferson School recently traveled around the world without ever leaving Georgetown. The National Geography Bee took fourth- through eighth-grade students to Russia, South America, Australia and Japan. The national competition, sponsored by the National Geographic Society, takes place in over 10,000 schools across the United States.

Most of the fourth-graders and about half of the Upper School students in fifth through eighth grades at The Jefferson School participated in the preliminary competition. Then 10 students moved on to the final round, with three advancing to the championship round. Sixth-grader Natalie Benz took first place and was named school champion. Fifth-grader Josh Welch took second place, and sixth-grader Oakley Roberts took third place.

All students who participated were selected based on their performances in earlier rounds held in their individual classes. Those who did well earned an invitation to the schoolwide competition.

The National Geographic Society has specific rules that state no more than 10 students can participate in the final round. Students were timed and had only 15 seconds to answer each question. Contestants were allowed one incorrect answer before being eliminated.

Finally, when the top two contestants were left, the championship round began, and the contestant who answered the most questions correctly became the school champion. Benz will take a qualifying exam to be allowed to take part in the state bee, and her eligibility will be announced by March 1. The national winner will be awarded a scholarship toward higher education.