# 18th National Geographic Bee

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. 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.

## 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 |