Two area students semifinalists in Nat Geo state bee

Jade Chapman, a fourth-grader at Grace Christian Academy in Minden, and Elia Keating-McEllistrem, a sixth-grader at Bethlehem Lutheran School in Carson City, are two semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2015 Nevada National Geographic State Bee, sponsored by Google and Plum Creek, on March 27 at Tarkanian Middle School, 5800 W. Pyle Ave. in Las Vegas.

This is the second level of the National Geographic Bee competition, which is now in its 27th year. School Bees were held in schools with fourth through eighth grade students throughout the state to determine each school champion. School champions 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, District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in the state bees.

State champions will receive $100, the “National Geographic Atlas of the World, 10th Edition,” a medal, 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 11-13. The national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the Society. The national champion will also travel (along with one parent or guardian), all expenses paid, to the Galapagos Islands.

For more information, go to www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee.

National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD will air the 2015 National Geographic Bee Championship final round, moderated by award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 15. The final round will be aired later on public television stations.