2007 Geography Bee
Eighth grader wins her second Geography Bee
by Beth Rowen
The number 2 might be Caitlin Snaring's lucky number. It was
her second time representing Washington state at the National Geographic
Bee, and she’s the second girl to win the contest in its 19-year
history.
"I don't know why more girls aren't interested in geography,"
she said after winning the championship round. "I wanted a girl winner this
year." By placing first, Caitlin earned a $25,000 scholarship and a lifetime
membership in the National Geographic Society.
The 14-year-old
home-schooled eighth grader from Redmond, Washington, said she started
studying for the 2007 bee right after she was eliminated from the 2006
competition. In addition to geography, Caitlin enjoys studying the history
of pottery and creating reproductions of Greek and Minoan
pottery.
Caitlin won the 2007 National Geographic Bee by correctly
identifying Hue as the city that is divided by a river of the same name and
was the imperial capital of Vietnam for more than a century.
The
National Geographic Bee was open to 55 contestants: one from each state,
plus one apiece from Washington, D.C.; Pacific Territories; Puerto Rico; the
Virgin Islands; and U.S. Department of Defense schools. The final round, for
the top ten finalists, was moderated by Alex Trebek, host of the popular
game show Jeopardy! It was broadcast live on the National Geographic
Channel.
Suneil Iyer, 12, a seventh-grader at Indian Trail Junior High
School in Olathe, Kansas, placed second and received a $15,000 college
scholarship. Third place and a $10,000 college scholarship went to Mark
Arildsen, a 13-year-old seventh-grader at the University School of
Nashville, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
