Holy Family Catholic student among 100 to compete in Florida National Geographic bee

Every night before bed, Winter Garden resident Charlie Campbell used to have his mom spin the globe in his room and randomly point at a place. Then, he would proceed to tell her all about it, even the most obscure of places.

Now an eighth-grader at Holy Family Catholic School, Charlie is putting his fascination with geography to good use: He will be one of only 100 fourth- through eighth-grade students in the state to compete in the Florida National Geographic State Bee.  

Charlie qualified by winning the bee at his school and taking an online test. He and his parents will travel Friday, March 31, to Jacksonville University so he can compete. 

His intent interest in geography began when his grandfather gave him a world map in second grade. 

“I was really interested in Egypt at the time and astonished … I didn’t know the world was that big,” he said.

His mom, Cyndi, said he studied that map so much it began to fall apart. That’s when they bought him a globe. And because he loves to learn about smaller, more exotic places, they sometimes checked out books from the library to read about them. Charlie also watches YouTube documentaries.

“I’m so proud of him,” Cyndi Campbell said. “What I love about it is this has been one of his hobbies for a couple of years, with no real goal in mind other than he was interested in learning about other places. To find out there’s a competition that specializes in this is a bonus.”

The state bee consists of five preliminary rounds behind closed doors, which will narrow the 100 semifinalists to the top 10. Once the top 10 are determined, everyone can watch the competition.

Each state champion will receive $100, the “National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World, Fourth Edition” and an opportunity to compete in the National Geographic Bee Championship May 14 to 17 at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].