National Geographic Bee Hosted by Soledad O'Brien

Photo by Rebecca Hale/National Geographic

This year, Soledad O’Brien hosted the National Geographic Bee taking over for long-time host, Alex Trebek.

The championship round of the competition was live from the the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Ten students compete in the final round which started classrooms, then state or territory competitions which produced 54 of the best the nation.

Under bright lights and the gaze of television cameras, they competed last week for a $25,000 scholarship, a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Galapagos Islands, and the right to call themselves National Geographic Bee Champion.

The new champion is a Virginia eighth grader Akhil Rekulapelli.

Watch the final round.

Akhil Rekulapelli (left) and Florida fifth grader Ameya Mujumdar (right)
answer Soledad O'Brien's questions during the final round.