Eric Wayne, principal of Washington Middle School (WMS), recently announced the participation of WMS students in the 2018 National Geographic Bee.

Preliminary rounds will be held this week through Friday and the championship round will be held on Friday, Dec. 15.

For the 30th year, the National Geographic Society is holding the National Geographic Bee for students in the fourth through eighth grades in thousands of schools across the United States and in the five U.S. territories, as well as in Department of Defense Dependents Schools around the world.

The champion of the WMS National Geographic Bee will advance to the next level of competition, a qualifying test to determine state competitors. All school champions are eligible to win the national championship and its first prize, a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership in the Society, including a subscription to National Geographic magazine, and an all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition to the Galápagos Islands aboard the new National Geographic Endeavour II, at the national championship May 20-23, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Travel for the trip is provided by Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the National Geographic Bee. The National Geographic Society developed the National Geographic Bee in 1989 in response to concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States. Over three decades, 1,583 state champions have traveled to D.C. to participate in the finals and more than $1.5 million in college scholarship money has been awarded to winners of the competition by the National Geographic Society.

For more information, visit www.nationalgeographic.org/bee, or call the WMS at 740-335-0291