McKenzie Hofer, an eighth-grade student at James Valley Christian, placed in the top ten finalists of approximately 75 students across South Dakota, at the National Geographic Bee held in Aberdeen on April 6.
“My goal for that day was to get into the finals,” Hofer explained. “So I am really happy that I reached my goal.”
The National Geographic Bee is an annual geography contest for students in grades four through eight, where thousands of schools across the United States compete each year. Students who are successful go to the state competition before the final round held in May.
“Out of eight really hard questions I got seven right, so I then got to go to the top ten finalists,” Hofer said. “The state finals were held on the stage in the Krikac Auditorium at Northern State University. It didn’t really hit me that I was in the finals until I walked out on stage and the auditorium was full of people.”
The first stages of the geography bee involve classroom competitions, which are distributed to the students by their teachers, to determine which students will move on to the next steps of the contest.   

“After the classroom competitions, the top students in the school go on to compete in the school competitions. I was the school champion, so that’s how I qualified to go to state,” explained Hofer.
Last year was Hofer’s first year in state competition after passing each round leading up to it, and she was thrilled to return this year to make her comeback.  
“I went last year, but I didn’t make it past the beginning round of state,” Hofer said. “That was my first year in state competition, but I have participated in the earlier rounds of competition since fifth-grade.”
This year was Hofer’s last year to participate in the National Geographic Bee, as she goes into ninth grade next year, and she looks to the future with bright eyes and determination.
“I love traveling and going places. I want to be a journalist when I grow up so I can use my geography knowledge for journalism,” Hofer said. “Part of my studying for the geography bee was keeping up with current events, like reading the Daily Plainsman, I also have National Geographic books at home that I read a lot.”
While Hofer will not be returning to the National Geographic Bee next year, her sights are full of possibility for what the future holds, especially with the encouragement of her mother.
“My mom has been awesome, my sisters went to this before I did so this was her fifth time going to the state competition,” Hofer said. “She always encourages me and is awesome, so thank you mom.”

ANGELINA DELLA ROCCO/PLAINSMAN
James Valley Christian School eighth-grader McKenzie Hofer placed in the top 10 finalists at the National Geographic Bee held April 6 in Aberdeen.