HMS student advances to state Geography Bee

Hinsdale Middle School 7th grader Thomas Neil is headed to the Illinois State Geography Bee.

Neil, one of two finalists in this year’s HMS Geography Bee, will compete for National Geographic’s Illinois State Championship at Illinois State University on April 6 where preliminary competition takes place orally with each student receiving questions in the practice round and eight preliminary rounds.

The students with the top ten scores from the preliminary rounds will advance to the final competition which is mostly oral but also requires all students to write their answers. The final round determines the two finalists who will compete in the championship round.

Nearly 10,000 schools from across the United States enter the competition which ends with the 2018 National Geographic Bee in Washington, DC May 20-23.