Pelkey named semifinalist
in state geography bee
EASTON, Maine — Alexis Pelkey of Easton, the daughter of Jesse and Sarah Bell and an eighth-grader at Easton Junior/Senior High School, was recently notified by the National Geographic Society that she is one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2016 Maine National Geographic State Bee.
The contest will be held at the University of Maine at Farmington on Friday, April, 1, 2016.
This is the second level of the competition, which is now in its 28th year. School bees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students throughout the state to determine each school champion. School champions then took a qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. The society has invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Department of Defense dependent schools and U.S. territories to compete in the state Bees.
Each state champion will receive $100, the National Geographic book “The National Parks: An Illustrated History” and a medal, and a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their state in the National Geographic Bee Championship to be held at National Geographic Society headquarters, May 22-25.
The national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the society, along with a trip to Alaska’s coastal wilderness, including Glacier Bay National Park, in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.
The 2016 National Geographic Bee Championship final round, moderated for the first time by journalist and humorist Mo Rocca, will air on the National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo Wild on Friday, May 27, at 8 p.m. ET, and later on public television stations.
