In an unprecedented decision for these unprecedented times, the National Geographic Society announced in a March 19th press release the cancellation of the Geography Bee and GeoChallenge competitions this year. This includes the GeoBee at the state and national level as well as the GeoChallenge's regional events. Some schools were able to host geography bees near the beginning of this year, when the COVID-19 coronavirus was still a relatively distant — and not so widespread — threat in the United States. Here is an excerpt of the press release provided by Vicki Phillips, Executive Vice President and Chief Education Officer at the National Geographic Society:
Like other organizations around the world, the National Geographic Society is continuing to monitor the latest developments in the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which includes evaluating all of our public-facing programs.
After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s National Geographic GeoBee and GeoChallenge competitions. We believe it is critical to safeguard the health and safety of our GeoBee and GeoChallenge communities—and all those who take part in our events and experiences—by taking proactive steps to avoid any unnecessary health risks associated with group gatherings. ...
We recognize the tremendous amount of time and effort that students, teachers, coordinators, administrators, parents and staff have poured into these competitions. We sincerely appreciate your patience as we’ve worked to adapt to this rapidly evolving public health crisis.
While the dedicated and talented contestants are not able to express their passion for geography at the regional, state, or national level this year, thankfully their learning and education about the wonderful world of geography cannot be cancelled! Atlases, maps, books (and e-books), globes, National Geographic's GeoBee Quiz (↗), and the GeoFact of the Day Blog are just several geographic resources our brilliant youth can rely on during these trying times.
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