The 18th National Geographic Bee was held in Washington, D.C., on May 24, 2006, sponsored by the National Geographic Society. The final competition was moderated by Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek.[1] The winner was Bonny Jain of Moline, Illinois, who won a $25,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. The 2nd-place winner, Neeraj Sirdeshmukh of Nashua, New Hampshire, won a $15,000 scholarship. The 3rd-place winner, Yeshwanth Kandimalla of Marietta, Georgia, won a $10,000 scholarship.[2]
2006 State Champions
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| State |
Winner's Name |
Grade |
School |
City/Town |
Notes
|
| Alabama |
Lowell Van Ness |
8th |
Bumpus Middle School |
Hoover
|
| Alaska |
Andrew Lee |
7th |
Interior Distance Education of Alaska |
Anchorage
|
| Arizona |
Kelsey Schilperoort |
8th |
Heritage Christian Home Educators |
Prescott |
Top 10 finalist
|
| Arkansas |
Devin Matthews |
6th |
Lake Area Homeschool Association |
Drasco
|
| California |
Ryland Lu |
8th |
Pressman Academy |
Los Angeles
|
| Colorado |
Autumn Hughes |
6th |
Homeschooled |
Wheat Ridge |
Top 10 finalist
|
| Connecticut |
Liam McCarthy |
8th |
Middlesex Middle School |
Darien
|
| Delaware |
Matthew Heitmann |
8th |
Gunning Bedford Middle School |
New Castle
|
| Department of Defense |
Husain Mogri |
8th |
Bahrain School |
Bahrain
|
| District of Columbia |
Benjamin Geyer |
6th |
British School of Washington |
Washington, D.C.
|
| Florida |
John Kim |
7th |
Oslo Middle School |
Vero Beach
|
| Georgia |
Yeshwanth Kandimalla |
8th |
Simpson Middle School |
Marietta |
Third place
|
| Hawaii |
Guthrie Angeles |
6th |
Kaleiopuu Elementary School |
Waipahu
|
| Idaho |
Ryan Bovard |
7th |
Jennifer Junior High School |
Lewiston
|
| Illinois |
Bonny Jain |
8th |
Woodrow Wilson Middle School |
Moline |
2006 champion
|
| Indiana |
Jonathan Hielkema |
7th |
Highland Christian School |
Highland
|
| Iowa |
Drew Coffin |
8th |
Northwest Junior High School |
Coralville |
Top 10 finalist
|
| Kansas |
Suneil Iyer |
6th |
Havencroft Elementary School |
Olathe |
Top 10 finalist
|
| Kentucky |
Matt Hensley |
8th |
Beaumont Middle School |
Lexington
|
| Louisiana |
Lee Winkler |
5th |
Kehoe-France School |
Metairie
|
| Maine |
Alexander Homer |
8th |
Ellsworth Middle School |
Ellsworth
|
| Maryland |
James Plamondon |
8th |
St. John Regional Catholic School |
Frederick
|
| Massachusetts |
Krishnan Chandra |
8th |
West Middle School |
Andover |
Top 10 finalist
|
| Michigan |
Matthew Vengalil |
8th |
Parcells Middle School |
Grosse Pointe Woods |
Top 10 finalist
|
| Minnesota |
Simon Smedberg |
8th |
Jefferson Community School |
Minneapolis
|
| Mississippi |
Taide Ding |
5th |
Central Elementary School |
Oxford
|
| Missouri |
Christopher Winston |
7th |
Crestview Middle School |
Ellisville
|
| Montana |
Hannah Goodman |
7th |
Helena Area Christian Home Educators |
Helena
|
| Nebraska |
Preston Bradley |
8th |
Lux Middle School |
Lincoln
|
| Nevada |
Paige dePolo |
7th |
Little Flower School |
Reno |
Top 10 finalist
|
| New Hampshire |
Neeraj Sirdeshmukh |
8th |
Fairgrounds Middle School |
Nashua |
Second Place
|
| New Jersey |
Evan Meltzer |
8th |
Central Middle School |
Stirling
|
| New Mexico |
Luis Baca |
6th |
Albuquerque Academy |
Albuquerque
|
| New York |
Jonathan Katz |
8th |
Scarsdale Middle School |
Scarsdale
|
| North Carolina |
Michael Narup |
8th |
Myrtle Grove Middle School |
Wilmington
|
| North Dakota |
Conrad Eggers |
8th |
Horizon Middle School |
Bismarck
|
| Ohio |
Nirbhay Jain |
7th |
Ottawa Hills Junior High School |
Toledo
|
| Oklahoma |
Anthony Gonzalez |
8th |
Centennial Middle School |
Broken Arrow
|
| Oregon |
Michael Ling |
6th |
Meadow Park Middle School |
Beaverton
|
| Pacific Territories |
Ian Farley |
7th |
South Pacific Academy |
Pago Pago
|
| Pennsylvania |
Michael Luo |
8th |
Eagle View Middle School |
Mechanicsburg
|
| Puerto Rico |
Francisco Vargas |
7th |
St. John's School |
San Juan
|
| Rhode Island |
Laura Kulm |
8th |
Archie Cole Middle School |
East Greenwich
|
| South Carolina |
Andrew Brill |
8th |
Anderson County Homeschoolers |
Anderson
|
| South Dakota |
Joseph Knofczynski |
6th |
Georgia Morse Middle School |
Pierre
|
| Tennessee |
Mark Arildsen |
6th |
University School of Nashville |
Nashville
|
| Texas |
Jiawei Li |
7th |
Beck Junior High |
Katy
|
| Utah |
Jeffrey Bennett |
8th |
Midvale Middle School |
Midvale
|
| Vermont |
Lucas Earl |
8th |
Randolph Union Jr./Sr. High School |
Randolph
|
| Virginia |
José Antonio de la Peña |
7th |
Families in Support of Home Education |
Burke
|
| Virgin Islands |
Sean Marin |
8th |
St. Croix Country Day School |
St. Croix
|
| Washington |
Caitlin Snaring |
7th |
Family Learning Center |
Redmond
|
| West Virginia |
Joshua Hamrick |
8th |
Webster Springs Middle School |
Webster Springs
|
| Wisconsin |
Oliver Buchino |
8th |
Marshall Middle School |
Marshall
|
| Wyoming |
James Mothersbaugh |
6th |
Park Elementary School |
Casper
|
