The National Geographic Geo-Bee started in 1989 but this is only the second year Big Sandy Schools have participated. Students from the fourth grade to the eighth grade compete. This means Big Sandy had 10 finalists competing in the contest. There were nine boys and one girl. They were given two opportunities to answer incorrectly before they were removed from the contest. As it turned out they were actually given more than two wrong answers as they had to have two for the final contest. They had 15 seconds to give an answer. They could ask only two questions concerning the question before they give their answers.

Some of the question asked were: "The Sassafras Mountain is highest point in South Carolina. What is the major mountain system they are in?" They students had to write their answer on small white boards. The answer is the Appalachian Mountains. The highest point is 3,560 feet above sea level about 30 miles northwest of Greenville.

The Geo-bee Geographic contest next used the fictional town of GeoVille. Students needed to use their critical thinking skills and where given a map of the town. "GeoVille would like to establish a community garden where is the best place to establish the community garden?" The students needed to choose were the best place to plant a garden and write their answer on the white board.

The next questions were geographic questions from around the world. Some of the questions were: "In February 2019 the World ski championship will be held in the most populated city of the Scandinavian countries." The answer was Are. I missed the next question so bad I couldn't even google it. It was about a national

geographic explorer and the largest national park in Panama. There were many rounds of misc. questions before the final two were chosen. David Morsette who is in the 4th grade and Reinhard Bold who is in the 8th grade went head to head for the championship. Final questions were: "What city in France is famous for international film festival?" The answer Canes. "A Norwegian term for a long narrow sea inlet carved out by a glacier is called?" The answer Fjord. Reinhard answered this question correctly so he will go on to state competition.