18th National Geographic Bee

The 18th National Geographic Bee was held in Washington, D.C., on May 24, 2006, sponsored by the National Geographic Society. The final competition was moderated by Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek.[1] The winner was Bonny Jain of Moline, Illinois, who won a $25,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. The 2nd-place winner, Neeraj Sirdeshmukh of Nashua, New Hampshire, won a $15,000 scholarship. The 3rd-place winner, Yeshwanth Kandimalla of Marietta, Georgia, won a $10,000 scholarship.[2]

18th National Geographic Bee
DateMay 24, 2006
LocationWashington, D.C.
WinnerBonny Jain
Age12
ResidenceMoline, Illinois
No. of contestants55
Preceded by17th National Geographic Bee
Followed by19th National Geographic Bee

2006 State Champions

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State Winner's Name Grade School City/Town Notes
Alabama Lowell Van Ness 8th Bumpus Middle School Hoover
Alaska Andrew Lee 7th Interior Distance Education of Alaska Anchorage
Arizona Kelsey Schilperoort 8th Heritage Christian Home Educators Prescott Top 10 finalist
Arkansas Devin Matthews 6th Lake Area Homeschool Association Drasco
California Ryland Lu 8th Pressman Academy Los Angeles
Colorado Autumn Hughes 6th Homeschooled Wheat Ridge Top 10 finalist
Connecticut Liam McCarthy 8th Middlesex Middle School Darien
Delaware Matthew Heitmann 8th Gunning Bedford Middle School New Castle
Department of Defense Husain Mogri 8th Bahrain School Bahrain
District of Columbia Benjamin Geyer 6th British School of Washington Washington, D.C.
Florida John Kim 7th Oslo Middle School Vero Beach
Georgia Yeshwanth Kandimalla 8th Simpson Middle School Marietta Third place
Hawaii Guthrie Angeles 6th Kaleiopuu Elementary School Waipahu
Idaho Ryan Bovard 7th Jennifer Junior High School Lewiston
Illinois Bonny Jain 8th Woodrow Wilson Middle School Moline 2006 champion
Indiana Jonathan Hielkema 7th Highland Christian School Highland
Iowa Drew Coffin 8th Northwest Junior High School Coralville Top 10 finalist
Kansas Suneil Iyer 6th Havencroft Elementary School Olathe Top 10 finalist
Kentucky Matt Hensley 8th Beaumont Middle School Lexington
Louisiana Lee Winkler 5th Kehoe-France School Metairie
Maine Alexander Homer 8th Ellsworth Middle School Ellsworth
Maryland James Plamondon 8th St. John Regional Catholic School Frederick
Massachusetts Krishnan Chandra 8th West Middle School Andover Top 10 finalist
Michigan Matthew Vengalil 8th Parcells Middle School Grosse Pointe Woods Top 10 finalist
Minnesota Simon Smedberg 8th Jefferson Community School Minneapolis
Mississippi Taide Ding 5th Central Elementary School Oxford
Missouri Christopher Winston 7th Crestview Middle School Ellisville
Montana Hannah Goodman 7th Helena Area Christian Home Educators Helena
Nebraska Preston Bradley 8th Lux Middle School Lincoln
Nevada Paige dePolo 7th Little Flower School Reno Top 10 finalist
New Hampshire Neeraj Sirdeshmukh 8th Fairgrounds Middle School Nashua Second Place
New Jersey Evan Meltzer 8th Central Middle School Stirling
New Mexico Luis Baca 6th Albuquerque Academy Albuquerque
New York Jonathan Katz 8th Scarsdale Middle School Scarsdale
North Carolina Michael Narup 8th Myrtle Grove Middle School Wilmington
North Dakota Conrad Eggers 8th Horizon Middle School Bismarck
Ohio Nirbhay Jain 7th Ottawa Hills Junior High School Toledo
Oklahoma Anthony Gonzalez 8th Centennial Middle School Broken Arrow
Oregon Michael Ling 6th Meadow Park Middle School Beaverton
Pacific Territories Ian Farley 7th South Pacific Academy Pago Pago
Pennsylvania Michael Luo 8th Eagle View Middle School Mechanicsburg
Puerto Rico Francisco Vargas 7th St. John's School San Juan
Rhode Island Laura Kulm 8th Archie Cole Middle School East Greenwich
South Carolina Andrew Brill 8th Anderson County Homeschoolers Anderson
South Dakota Joseph Knofczynski 6th Georgia Morse Middle School Pierre
Tennessee Mark Arildsen 6th University School of Nashville Nashville
Texas Jiawei Li 7th Beck Junior High Katy
Utah Jeffrey Bennett 8th Midvale Middle School Midvale
Vermont Lucas Earl 8th Randolph Union Jr./Sr. High School Randolph
Virginia José Antonio de la Peña 7th Families in Support of Home Education Burke
Virgin Islands Sean Marin 8th St. Croix Country Day School St. Croix
Washington Caitlin Snaring 7th Family Learning Center Redmond
West Virginia Joshua Hamrick 8th Webster Springs Middle School Webster Springs
Wisconsin Oliver Buchino 8th Marshall Middle School Marshall
Wyoming James Mothersbaugh 6th Park Elementary School Casper

References

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  1. ^ Kramer, Melody. "Alex Trebek: On Hosting the National Geographic Bee". National Geographic. Archived from the original on June 17, 2013.
  2. ^ Harder, Ben. "Illinois Eighth Grader Wins National Geographic Bee". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on June 15, 2006.
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