If he wins at the state level, the Clearwater Fundamental Middle School student will compete to be the national champion.

PINELLAS COUNTY – Carson McGrail, a seventh-grader at Clearwater Fundamental Middle School, has been named a 2017 National Geographic State Bee semifinalist.

He is eligible to compete in the competition, which will take place March 31. This is the second level of the National Geographic Bee competition. 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. Up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense dependents schools and U.S. territories have been invited to compete in the state bees.

Each state champion will receive $100; the National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World, 4th Edition; and a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their state in the National Geographic Bee Championship at National Geographic Society headquarters May 14-17.

The national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the Society, including a subscription to National Geographic magazine, and an all-expenses paid expedition to the Galápagos Islands aboard the new National Geographic Endeavour ll.

Last year’s winner was Rishi Nair of Seffner, then a 12-year-old sixth-grader at Williams Magnet Middle School.

For information about the National Geographic Bee, go to natgeobee.org.

Photo of Carson McGrail courtesy of the Pinellas County Schools.

Clearwater Fundamental Middle School | National Geographic | Geography Bee | TB Reporter

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