State Geography Bee held in Rexburg

About 80 of the brightest 4th – 8th graders around the state were at BYU-Idaho today for the National Geographic State Bee final competition.

It was as intense as any TV game show as the students answered questions about the U-S and the entire world.

The final round of the national geographic state bee was whittled down to ten finalists, with the questions getting more and more difficult as the round went on. Once a contestant missed two questions they were eliminated. After nearly an hour it came down to the final questions for the two remaining finalists with this question.

“During the coldest days of winter, Europe’s longest ice road makes it possible to drive between the island of Hiiumaa and the mainland of what country?”

“Estonia,” answered Vincent Giordano of Boise. And with that correct answer he took first prize.

Vincent was excited about the win.

“This has been my dream. I’ve always loved geography since I was little,” Vincent said.

It was clear Vincent had spent a lot of time studying for this.

“I just lay a map on the flood and spend hours looking at it. It sounds really weird, but that’s what helps me study,” Vincent said.

Vincent won an all-expense-paid trip to Washington D.C. for the national finals in and a chance to compete for a 50-thousand dollar scholarship.

Here’s look at a longer 12 minute clip that shows extended highlights of the bee.