In Guilford, Felix's teacher, Louis Russo, started a before-school geography club. No girls showed up. But they just don't pick up on it. The interest starts young. I've never seen one girl who says that.
Girls are more likely to end up on the honor roll or do well in school, teachers say.
But unless the school or the teacher focuses explicitly on geography, they are not likely to become interested in it. The Liben and Downs study found that the girls who ended up in the higher rounds of the Geography Bee were more likely to come from smaller states or territories, where there is less competition. This year, the two girls in the semifinals were from Puerto Rico and Vermont. Jessie Friend, the entry from Barton, Vt., says her secret is reading, especially newspapers, and looking up any place she doesn't know. Not many of my girl friends do that.