Kramer advances to State Bee

     Bo Kramer, an eighth-grader at Monticello Middle School, has been notified by the National Geographic Society that he is one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the Iowa National Geographic State Bee.

     The contest will be Friday, March 31 in Maucker Union at the University of Northern Iowa.

     The National Geographic Bee competition is in its 29^th year. School bees were held in schools with students in grades 4-8 throughout Iowa to determine each school champion. Kramer won the Monticello contest, and later took a qualifying test, which was submitted to the NGS.

     Kramer was selected as one of up to 100 Iowa students to compete in the State Bee. Each state champion will receive $100, the National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World, and a trip to Washington, D.C. to represent his or her state in the National Geographic Bee Championship in May.

     The national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the NGS, and an all-expenses paid Lindblad expedition to the Galapagos Islands aboard National Geographic Endeavor II.

     Bo is the son of Doug and Jolene Kramer, Monticello.

     For more information, visit www.natgeobee.org.