2 District 47 Students Named National Geographic State Bee Semifinalists

Two District 47 students were recently notified by the National Geographic Society that they are semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2017 Illinois National Geographic State Bee. The contest will be held at Illinois State University on Friday, March 31, 2017.

Lyric Engelbrecht, a sixth grader at Lundahl Middle School, and Serena Huberty, an eighth grader at Bernotas Middle School, were both selected as semifinalists for the geography bee, according to a news release.

This is the second level of the National Geographic Bee competition, which is now in its 29th 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 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 bees, according to a news release.

Each state champion will receive $100, the National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World, 4th Edition 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 14-17, 2017. The national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the Society, including a subscription to National Geographic magazine, and an all expenses paid Lindblad expedition to the Galápagos Islands aboard the new National Geographic Endeavour ll.

Sixth grader Lyric Engelbrecht said he’s been studying every day in preparation for the upcoming state geography bee. He looks at maps and tries to match the capitol to the country. In doing this, he’s learned about different countries and has developed a particular interest in Japan and Korea.

“I tried teaching myself Japanese, but found out that’s really tough,” he said. “Instead, I learned the Korean alphabet and can now write English words in Korean. I’ve learned I can memorize things quickly."