8th grader wins National Geographic State Bee third time in a row

Students from all over Idaho in grades 4 through 8 were at Byu-Idaho today for the National Geographic state geography bee.

Winner Nicholas Monahan will go to the national bee in Washington D.C. in May and compete against all the other state winners for a $50,000 college scholarship.

A rare treat at this year’s bee was a visit from Washington by the National Geographic Vice President in charge of these bees.

“We really want to fortify kids — their intellects, they’re imaginations,” Damiel Beaupre’ said. “We want to inspire them to really go out there and understand the planet. We need them.”

Nicholas said he studied geography hours a day to prepare for this.

“I use my atlas that I won here two years ago. and I use books that my dad and my sister quiz me out of.” Nicholas said.

And all that work paid off for Nicholas.