They know the way to San Jose and more

With his knowledge of the world, a Hinsdale seventh-grader has earned himself a trip to Washington, D.C.

Gideon Ticho of Avery Coonley School in Downers Grove won the Illinois National Geographic Bee Friday.

One hundred students in fourth through eighth grades, participated in the bee at Chicago's Field Museum.

"The kids were just amazing," coordinator Ani Smith said.

Other local students in the top 10 were Charles Dunk, an eighth-grader at Kennedy Junior High in Lisle, in fourth place; Derek Choi, an eighth-grader from the Science and Arts Academy in Des Plaines, in eighth place; and seventh-grader Saieesh Rao, of Twin Groves Middle School in Buffalo Grove, who finished ninth.

Seventh-graders Robert Rosene from Bourbonnais and Arthur Tsang from Wilmette finished second and third, respectively.

The contest quizzes students on their knowledge of world geography, like what country the Gulf of Khambhat is in (India) and the name of the warm ocean current that flows between mainland Africa and Madagascar (the Mozambique current).

To qualify, students first had to win their local school geography bee. After that, the winners took a written exam, with the top 100 moving on to Friday's state contest.

Besides the all-expenses-paid trip to Washington for the national competition, Friday's winner also received $100 and a National Geographic globe.

First prize in the national contest is a $25,000 college scholarship.

The bee started in 1989 in response to concerns about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States.

For more information on the contest, visit nationalgeographic.com/geographicbee.