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
| 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 |
References
External links