On Wednesday, January 18th, the seventh and eighth graders went to watch their fellow classmates participate in the 27th annual National Geographic Bee.  The National Geographic Bee is a competition for public schools, private school, and homeschools. To be able to qualify for the National Geographic Bee, all seventh and eighth graders took a test to narrow down the contestants.  In the competition, the first round is the school-level competition.  Then, the next round is the State Bee which will be held on March 31st.    

The seventh grade students who participated were Owen Abney, Worth Hewitt, Annie Jicka, and Ewing Milam.  The eighth graders were Andrew Banks, Tanner Gough, Owen Lundberg, Alex Roberson, and Preston Speed.  

Seventh grader Ewing Milam  won the competition and eighth grader Tanner Gough was runner up.  Ewing now has the opportunity to win a $50,000 college scholarship, lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society, $500 in cash, and a trip to the Galapagos Islands.  Since Ewing advanced, he has to take a written test.  The top 100 scores in the state will be eligible to compete in the State Bee.  

Contrary to popular belief, Ewing did not really study for the competition.  In fact he said, “I winged it, but I knew some from traveling or movies.” Luckily, his favorite subjects are Geography and History.  When Ewing had realized the competition was his, he said, “I was at first nervous, but then it was just fun.  When I knew I was going to win, I became very excited and surprised.”