Montville Geography Bee Winner 'Breathed A Huge Sigh Of Relief' After Win

Veda Bhattaram of Pine Brook, New Jersey, placed first at the New Jersey National Geographic State Bee on Friday, April 1, 2016. The Robert R. Lazar sixth grade student competed at Rowan University in Glassboro, against 104 semi-finalists from throughout the state.

Each year the structured event begins with one round of eight questions. At the end of round one, almost 80 competitors are eliminated. Then a tiebreaker round is held to get the field down to 10 competitors.

Twenty to thirty minutes later the competition is narrowed down to two finalists.

At the April 1 event, Bhattaram and his competitor went through several tiebreaker rounds, each getting the same things right and the same things wrong.

“They ran out of tiebreaker questions,” Bhattaram said. “Finally, they found one more envelope of questions.”

To win the event, Bhattaram correctly answered the question: “Name the capital of the state of Baja California,” with the name, “Mexicali.”

“I just breathed a huge sigh of relief,” Bhattaram said when asked what it was like to realize he had answered that final question correctly. “I was just, like, really happy.”

In May he will travel to Washington D.C. to compete at the national level of the National Geographic Bee. While in D.C., he will pit his knowledge against students from all fifty states and US territories. The competitors will range in age from 10 to 14 years-old.

“He is passionate about geography,” said Lazar Principal Sharon Carr. “The original test that he took to qualify -- the one they allow an hour to complete? He did it in less than fifteen minutes.”

2016 was the second year in a row Bhattaram, a Montville Township Public Schools student, attended the National Geographic sponsored event in NJ. In 2015 he represented Montville Township’s Woodmont Elementary School as a fifth grader, and was eliminated in the first round.

“I learned a lot from having been there last year,” Bhattaram explained.

“He is amazing,” said Lazar Vice Principal John Piselli. “He is passionate geography. Now all the other kids try to stump him. They actually look up obscure rivers and other facts from little-known countries and they ask him – and he always knows.”

But Bhattaram said he doesn’t always know the answer. There were even a few questions he missed at the April 1 competition in Glassboro.

“To prepare for D.C., I am studying a lot,” the 12-year-old Bhattaram said. “Whenever I have time, I’m studying.”

The support of his friends and teachers has been helpful in preparing the sixth grader for each competition he has faced thus far.

Bhattaram received $100 and the National Geographic book, “The National Parks: An Illustrated History,” for winning the NJ National Geographic State Bee.

In D.C., the national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society.

The National Geographic Bee is open to students in the fourth through eighth grades. It has been held annually since 1989. In addition to Bhattaram, Montville Township Public Schools’ fifth grade student, Ben Halpern, attended the state competition. From William Mason Elementary School, Halpern also attended in 2015 as one of only two fourth graders in the competition.

Last year’s 2015 National Champion was eighth grade student Karen Menon from Edison, New Jersey. Almost twenty years earlier, in 1996, seventh grade New Jersey student Seyi Fayanju won the national event. Since 1989 only two New Jersey students have landed geography’s top spot in the nation.

Bhattaram will be accompanied to Washington D.C. by his parents, Satyendra Bhattaram, Sirisha Suram, and his 6-year-old brother Vihari Bhattaram.

CAPTION (photo by Sue Marinello):

Robert R. Lazar sixth grade student, Veda Bhattaram (center) of Pine Brook, New Jersey, placed first at the New Jersey National Geographic State Bee on Friday, April 1, 2016. Bhattaram will travel to Washington D.C., May 22-25, to compete against students from all fifty states and US territories in the nation’s National Geographic Bee. In preparation for the national competition, geography teacher, Megan Shaw (right), is working with Bhattaram, along with his family and friends, to help prepare him for the national competition. Principal Sharon Carr (left) is very proud of Bhattaram.