Knowing where it's at. (Making a Difference).(home schooled boy wins 2002 National Geographic Bee)(Brief Article)

The National Geographic Society developed the National Geography Bee (later renamed National Geographic Bee) in the late 1980s after a 10-country survey revealed that young Americans were scoring lower in geography tests than their foreign counterparts. One in seven Americans ages 18 to 24 could not, for example, locate their own country on a blank world map.

Finals for this year's 14th annual bee took place in Washington, D.C., on May 21st-22nd, with Alex Trebek, host of television's popular Jeopardy! quiz show, serving as moderator. Once again, home schoolers did themselves proud.

Around five million youngsters ages 10 to 15 had entered the competition beginning in mid-October of last year. Local and state contests eventually trimmed the field to 55 contenders representing each of the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Pacific Territories, and Department of Defense schools. Twelve of the 55 participants (21.8 percent) were home schoolers. This is a striking percentage considering Department of Education estimates that about 1.7 percent of the nation's school-age population is home schooled.

The May 21st preliminaries further pared the field to 10 for the next day's final showdown, when 10-year-old Michigan home schooler Calvin McCarter (youngest of the 55 finalists) became the 2002 champ after knowing that the ...