Sparby competes at Minnesota National Geographic Bee

Gabriel Sparby, an eighth grader at Morris Area, was a semifinalist in the 2012 Minnesota National Geographic Bee.

The Bee was held at St. Cloud State University on Friday, March 30.

As Morris Area's Bee winner, Gabriel took a qualifying test which was submitted to the National Geographic Society. She was among the students with the top 100 scores invited to compete at the state level.

Although Gabriel did not advance from the first round at the state level, she enjoyed participating and representing Morris Area.

Gopi Ramanathan, an eighth grader at Sartell Middle School, advanced to represent Minnesota in the national finals. A total of 54 winners will be competing at the May 22-24 championship in Washington, D.C.