Rutherford students compete in National Geographic Bee

Four students from Rutherford County Schools qualified to compete in the state-level competition for the National Geographic Bee, which was held March 31.

Of those students, three are current eighth-graders — Alexis Freeman (LaVergne Middle), Claire Martin (Thurman Francis Arts Academy) and Caton Taylor (Central Magnet School) — and one is a fifth-grader, Logan Stojakovich, from McFadden School of Excellence.

It is an honor to qualify for the state-level contest.

Nationwide, only up to 100 fourth- through eighth-graders in each of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Atlantic and Pacific territories and Department of Defense Dependents Schools took part in State Bees, according to information from the National Geographic Society.

Each year thousands of schools in the United States participate in the National Geographic Bee using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society. The contest is designed to encourage teachers to include geography in their classrooms, spark student interest in the subject, and increase public awareness about geography. Schools with students in grades four through eight are eligible for this entertaining and challenging test of geographic knowledge.

The first place winner from Tennessee — Simeon Betapudi, a seventh-grader from Evangelical Christian School — will proceed to the national competition, which will be held in May.