Kingsbury School student Erik Hunstad was one of 100 top fourth-through-eighth graders from around the state to compete in the Michigan finals of the 2004 National Geographic Bee held April 2 at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant.
Sponsored by the National Geographic Society, students from 500 schools from around the state participated in local preliminary bees in January.
Hunstad, a seventh-grader from Rochester, won Kingsbury’s geographic bee.
Hunstad, along with the other preliminary bees, then completed a written qualifying test administered by the National Geographic Society in Washington D.C.
The top scorers in Michigan advanced to the state bee at CMU.
Every day for a month prior to state finals, Hunstad said he studied geography for 30 minutes to one hour.
Unfortunately, Hunstad was eliminated in the preliminary round, answering four of eight questions correctly.
The questions were very difficult, according to Hunstad.
‘Some of the judges, who were geography teachers, didn’t know the answers to some of the questions,? he said.
Although math is his ‘favorite subject,? Hunstad said he’s been trying to make it to the geographic bee state finals since he was in the fourth grade. He plans to compete in the local bee again next year.