Kansan Knows His Place(s)
Fourteen-year-old Andrew Wojtanik had a thick study guide his competitors didn’t have as he prepared for the 16th annual National Geographic Bee: a 432-page world almanac that he made himself.
“It’s got everything you need to know about all the countries -- its currency, its ethnic groups, its mountains, rivers -- all that stuff,” said Andrew, an eighth-grader from Overland Park, Kan. He beat 54 other semifinalists, ages 10 to 15, in two days of competition that wound up Wednesday.
The final question: Peshawar, in Pakistan, has had strategic importance for centuries because of its location near what historic pass?
Andrew’s correct answer: the Khyber Pass.
He takes home a $25,000 college scholarship, a lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society and a weeklong trip to a SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Adventure Camp.
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