Great Valley Seventh-Grader Headed to State Geographic Bee

Editor's note: The following information comes from Great Valley School District:

Seventh-grade student Joshita Varshney will compete in the Pennsylvania State Geographic Bee on March 30. Varshney qualified for the state-level bee through her outstanding performance in her school competition. She is one of 100 student participants who will compete at the state level. She is the seventh student from Great Valley Middle School to participate at the state level in the past 20 years.

The Geographic Bee is a content-knowledge test. Participants are tested on a variety of topics, including state capitals and countries around the world. The state-level competition is the second stage of the National Geographic Bee. The winner of each state bee proceeds to the national competition.

“I’m nervous, but I am really excited,” said Varshney. “I’ve been taking practice quizzes and reading as much as I can to be fully prepared.”

Social Studies Department Chair Lawrence Cinciripino said, “The Geographic Bee is important because students who are interested in geography have a chance to explore their interests outside of the curriculum.”

National Geographic first created the Bee in 1989 to address concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among the United States' younger generations.