School officials in Chase County and North Lyon County expressed pride in students who competed at the Kansas Geography Bee held during the weekend in Abilene.
Nathan Stinson, representing North Lyon County, and Cole Jackson, representing Chase County, qualified to compete by scoring among the highest in the state in an earlier written test. Both are 14 years old and are in the eighth grade.
“Over 6,000 kids took the test to get in and only 100 qualified, so it was something to get in,” said Craig Idacavage, principal at Admire Elementary School, where Nathan attends classes.
The preliminary contest on Saturday contained eight questions. The top 10 of the 100 students went on to the final round. Neither of the local students made it to the final round.
“It took a score of either 7 out of eight right, or all eight right, to make the finals,” said Tom Grokett, who teaches seventh and eighth grade at Chase County Middle School.
“We’re real proud of him for getting as far as he did,” he said of Jackson.