Port Angeles student vies in state National Geographic bee today

Published 12:01 am Friday, March 27, 2015

PORT ANGELES — An eighth-grade student at Queen of Angels School is a semifinalist in the 2015 Washington National Geographic State Bee today.

Colby Rentas, son of Darren and Maria Rentas and an eighth-grade student at Queen of Angels School, will compete at Pacific Lutheran University, 12180 Park Ave. S. in Tacoma.

This is the second level of the National Geographic Bee competition, now in its 27th year.

It is sponsored by Google and Plum Creek .

School bees were held in schools with fourth-through-eighth-grade students throughout the state to determine each school champion.

School champions then took a qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society.

The National Geographic Society has invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in the state bees.

Each state champion will receive $100, the National Geographic Atlas of the World (10th edition), a medal and a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their states in the National Geographic Bee Championship, to be held at National Geographic Society headquarters May 11-13.

The national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the society.

He or she also will travel (along with one parent or guardian), all expenses paid, to the Galápagos Islands.

National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo Wild will air the championship final round, moderated by award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, on Friday, May 15, at 8 p.m. EST.

The final round will be aired later on public television stations.

Visit www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee for more information on the National Geographic Bee.