State Geography Bee participant

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Riata Christiansen has been chosen as a semifinalist eligible to compete in the 2012 Utah National Geography Bee, sponsored by Google and Plum Creek.
Riata is a sixth grade student at Ferron Elementary. She is the daughter of Mistie and Kirk Christiansen. Bees were held in schools with fourth-eighth grade students throughout the state to determine each school’s Bee winner. School level winners then took a qualifying test which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. In each of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Dependents schools, and the US territories, the National Geographic Society invited the students with the top 100 scores to compete at the state level.
The 2012 Utah National Geographic Bee will be held at Thanksgiving Point, Gardens Visitor Center in Lehi on March 30.
The state winner will receive $100, the Complete National Geographic on DVD and a trip to Washington DC where they will represent Utah in the national finals at National Geographic Society headquarters on May 22-24. The National winner will receive a $25,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the Society. The national winner will also travel along with one parent or guardian on an all expenses paid trip to the Galapagos Islands. The winner will experience geography first hand through up close encounters with the wildlife and landscape of Galapagos.