Area students to vie in state geography bees
3/31/2005Thirteen students from northwest Ohio and five from southeast Michigan will compete tomorrow at state-level geography bees - vying for a spot at a national competition in May.
Up to 100 fourth to eighth-grade students in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia qualified for the state bees. Ohio's is in Mansfield; Michigan's is in Mount Pleasant.
The bee is a program of the National Geographic Society. It is designed to encourage teaching and studying geography.
From northwest Ohio, the competitors are:
●Steve Dickman of Glandorf Elementary in Glandorf.
●Ryan Carrig of Kenton Middle Schools in Kenton.
●Matthew Demichiei of St. Augustine School in Napoleon.
●Aaron Gross of Paulding Exempted Village Schools in Paulding.
●Kyle Henry of Eastwood Middle School in Pemberville.
●Christopher Valentic of St. Rose in Perrysburg.
●Benjamin Kalis of Perkins Middle School in Sandusky.
●John Boudouris of Arbor Hills Junior High School in Sylvania.
●Catie Cherry of St. Patrick of Heatherdowns in Toledo.
●Anna Schreiber of Jefferson Junior High School in Toledo.
●Katherine O'Reilly of St. Joan of Arc in Toledo.
●Parth Patel of Maumee Valley Country Day School in Toledo.
●Nirbhay Jain of Ottawa Hills Elementary School in Ottawa Hills.
From southeast Michigan, the competitors are:
●Anthony Alvarez of Hillsdale Academy in Hillsdale.
●Joel Peven of Meadow Montessori School in Monroe.
●Andrew Kalenkiewicz of Trinity Lutheran School in Monroe.
●Alexander Wellhousen of St. John School in Monroe.
●Timothy Stehulak of Cantrick Middle School in Monroe.
Students will be asked specific questions about geography.
The national competition last year was won by Andrew Wojtanik of Overland Park, Kan.
The winning question was: "Peshawar, a city in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, has had a strategic importance for centuries because of its location near what historic pass?"
The answer: the Khyber Pass.
The winners of all state-level competitions will get $100 and a trip to Washington to the national-level competition, held May 24-25 at the National Geographic Society's headquarters.
First prize in the national competition is a $25,000 college scholarship.