America
14-year-old Karan Menon wins National Geographic Bee
Washington, May 14
Karan Menon, a 14-year-old
Indian-origin boy, answered questions about places from Tashkent to
Telangana to win the National Geographic Bee championship here with the
top three positions going to Indian-Americans.
Menon bagged the
championship by answering the final question: If built, the proposed
Grand Inga Dam would be the world's largest hydroelectric dam. Near the
Inga Falls, it is on which African river? Menon's winning answer: the
Congo.
"I'm on top of the world right now," said the New
Jerseyite, who competed against 10 young finalists, seven of them of
Indian origin, from across the US, in grades four through eight, for a
trip to the Galapagos Islands and $85,000 in college scholarships.
Menon
bested runner-up Shriya Yarlagadda, 11, of Michigan, who missed only
one question through the entire contest (about the Sea of Azov).
"It takes a lot of hard work, preparation, and being able to relax at key moments," he said.
During
one nail-biting moment, Menon challenged the judges after he answered
taconite when host, journalist Soledad O’Brien, had wanted iron ore for
the name of a mineral-rich deposit in the Mesabi Range. The judges
agreed and granted him the point.
This year's finalists included
Kapil Nathan of Alabama, Sojas Wagle of Arkansas, Nicholas Monahan of
Idaho, Patrick Taylor of Iowa, Abhinav Karthikeyan of Maryland, Lucy
Chae of Massachusetts, Shriya Yarlagadda of Michigan, Shreyas Varathan
of Minnesota, Karan Menon of New Jersey and Tejas Badgujar of
Pennsylvania.
The finalists qualified for Wednesday's
championship in a preliminary round on Monday that included 54
contestants from state and territory-level bees.
Four million
students competed in local geography bees this year from 11,000 schools,
representing roughly 12 percent of US schools.
"Geography helps
prepare students to make the world a better place," National Geographic
president and CEO Gary Knell told the Bee's live audience on Wednesday.
A recent survey found that three of four American eighth graders lack basic proficiency in the subject.
National
Geographic started the Bee in 1989 to improve geographic literacy among
young people. Michael Jordan majored in geography and Mother Teresa
taught it, the organisers noted.