WASHINGTON—From towns as small and peaceful as Mulberry, Arkansas, to cities as big and bustling as New York, students from all across America will be making a beeline for Washington, D.C., in May. They will be on a quest to become the winner of the 1998 National Geography Bee—and a U.S.$25,000 scholarship.

The 57 state-level winners, ages 11 to 15, have triumphed from a field of about 5 million students to earn a place in the 10th annual national championships. The finals to determine the nation’s No. 1 geography student will be held May 19 and 20 at National Geographic Society headquarters. The contest will be moderated for the 10th consecutive year by Alex Trebek, host of the television quiz show “Jeopardy!”

Sylvan Learning Centers and the National Geographic Society are sponsors of the 1998 National Geography Bee, established in 1989. The Bee finals will air on local PBS stations, produced by Maryland Public Television.

The state-level winners represent all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the five U.S. territories—American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands—and the Department of Defense Schools.

Twelve of the 57 students are repeat state winners. For the first time a student has made it to the finals for four years—West Virginia’s Ben Graber. Michigan winner Petko Peev is a third-time finalist. Ten others competed in the 1997 finals: Michael Hart, Alaska; Aaron Linderman, Arizona; Timothy Courchaine, Connecticut; Jason Espiritu, Guam; Victor McFarland, Idaho; Eapen Thampy, Missouri; Gulliver Hughes, New Mexico; Rolando Dans, Northern Mariana Islands; Kevin Samuels, Oregon; and Jason Borschow, Puerto Rico.

The National Geography Bee, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, has coincided with a reawakening of the nation’s interest in geography. Signs that geography is returning to the American classroom include a surge in the number of undergraduate geography majors in U.S. colleges and a steady rise in enrollment in graduate geography programs. The College Board is, as a result, developing an advanced placement geography course and test for use in the 2000-2001 school year.

“The National Geographic Society has invested $100 million in improving geography education in the United States over the last 10 years, and the Bee is central to that effort,” said Society Chairman Gilbert M. Grosvenor. “We’re delighted to see students flocking back to geography.

“The National Geographic Society thanks Sylvan Learning Centers, the exclusive corporate sponsor of the 1998 National Geography Bee.”

All state-level winners will compete in the preliminary rounds of the contest on May 19. Ten finalists will each get U.S.$500 and meet the next day to vie for one of the three top prizes— college scholarships of U.S.$25,000, U.S.$15,000 and U.S.$10,000. The top champion will also be awarded an all-expenses-paid vacation to Hong Kong provided by Sylvan Learning Centers and will receive NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine for life.

The 1997 national winner was seventh-grader Alex Kerchner of Kirkland, Washington. He correctly identified Singapore as the answer to the question: “Asia’s most densely populated country has about 3 million people in an area of less than 250 square miles. Name this country.”

In a survey of the 1998 contestants, students said they prepared for the competition by using computer games such as the National Geographic’s “GeoBee,” visiting the National Geographic Web site, studying atlases, reading National Geographic and watching “Jeopardy!”

Finalists admire a wide range of people—from Leonardo da Vinci to Leonardo DiCaprio. Bill Gates leads the list of role models; Madame Curie, Bill Clinton, Cal Ripken and Michelle Kwan are also respected.

The National Geographic Society developed the National Geography Bee in response to concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States. In a 10-country Gallup Survey conducted for the Society in 1988 and 1989, Americans ages 18 to 24, the youngest group surveyed, scored lower than their counterparts in the other nations. A substantial number of Americans could not locate their own country on a blank map of the world.

Sylvan Learning Centers provides supplemental education services to students of all ages and skill levels in more than 650 centers across North America and in Asia. Sylvan and the National Geographic Society are working together to offer an experiential education program for students to attend after school on the premises of participating schools.

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May 14, 1998