GASTONIA — St. Michael School seventh-grader Austin Rios has been selected to compete as a semifinalist in the 2019 National Geographic GeoBee North Carolina State Competition.
Rios has been notified by the National Geographic Society that he is one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2019 competition, being held at Central Piedmont Community College March 29.
This is the second level of the National Geographic GeoBee competition, which is now in its 31st year. School GeoBees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students throughout the state to determine each school champion. School champions then took an online qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. The National Geographic Society has invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in the State GeoBees.
This year, National Geographic increased the prize money for all State GeoBees. State champions will receive a medal, $1,000 in cash and other prizes, as well as a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their state in the National Championship to be held at National Geographic Society headquarters May 19-22. Students who come in second and third place will receive cash awards of $300 and $100, respectively.
— Sheila Levesque