Piedmonter Thomas Horn Finishes Second in State Geographic Bee

 A Piedmont Middle School student finished second in the state Geographic Bee Friday, one notch short of the winner from San Mateo County.

Thomas Horn of Piedmont took second place behind Tuvya Bergson-Michelson, a fourth-grader from San Carlos, who moves on to the national competition in May with the hope of winning a $25,000 college scholarship.

“These kids love the subject because there’s no way to make it to the state finals without the passion for geography,” said coordinator Steve Cunha, a geography professor at Humboldt State University. 

Bergson-Michelson won by answering the third question in the tie breaker round correctly: What country is the only predominantly Muslim country to have a currency called the rupee? The correct answer was Pakistan.

The state bee, the second stage of the annual National Geographic Bee, was attended by 102 finalists at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento.