To visit writer Ernest Hemingway’s home near Havana and to hike to the top of El Yunque, you would travel to what country?

Were you able to answer that question? This was one of the many questions provided in this year’s geography bee, which was held on Friday, November 20th.

Canyon Vista holds its geography bee every year, using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society. The bee is designed to motivate students to learn more about the world, as well as increase public awareness about geography.

Students who wanted to participate in this year’s bee would take a pretest in their Social Studies classes. The students who answered a certain number of questions correctly would move to the preliminary round. Then the top-performing students in the preliminary round would move on to the final round, where 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place would be determined.

This year, the preliminary round had to go through a tie breaker, because 12 students had perfect scores through seven rounds. Out of the 64 students who answered the most questions correctly on the qualifying test, 8th grader Saavan Myneni earned 1st place in the bee, 7th grader Lucian Tripon won second place, and 8th grader Andy Tutuc and 6th grader Toby Huang tied for third place. Myneni won a medal and a $20 gift card to Barnes and Noble, and Tripon earned a $10 gift card.

Myneni will compete in the state bee on April 1st, 2016, after taking an online qualifying exam. He will be competing against other high-scoring students in the state. The student who wins the state competition will then move onto the national championship in Washington D.C. Good job to all who participated, and good luck Saavan!