Boy has a world of knowledge

From left, Martha Palmer, co-division head of sixth and seventh grade at Albuquerque Academy, holds the phone as Huy Tran, 13, is congratulated for winning the state’s National Geographic Bee at Santa Fe Community College Friday. Huy’s friend Paul Clark, 13, checks out one of the prizes. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)

Many Americans don’t know Minnesota from Madagascar.

But Albuquerque’s Huy Tran can find both on a map and then some. The 13-year-old Albuquerque Academy seventh grader took first place in the New Mexico portion of the 25th annual National Geographic Bee at Santa Fe Community College on Friday.

The win means Tran is headed for an all-expenses-paid trip to the national rounds in Washington, D.C. moderated by “Jeopardy’s” Alex Trebek May 20-22.

A $25,000 college scholarship is at stake, as well as a trip to the Galàpagos Islands. Tran and two other state winners took home gift certificates and DVDs of the complete collection of National Geographic.

The second place winner was Gabriel Cuneo of Albuquerque’s Sheperd Lutheran; third place went to Adittyo Paul of Albuquerque’s Dennis Chavez Elementary.

For Friday’s finals, a total of 87 participants was whittled down to 10.

A crowd of about 100 fidgeted, squirmed and sweated as Tran pondered the winning question: “The Lowa River goes through the Andes, supplying water for the city of Calama, running through what country before it enters the Pacific Ocean?”

Tran wrote the correct word “Chile” on an 8-by-10-inch yellow legal pad.

The win comes after what has been a tough two years, his mother Hye Clark said. Huy’s father Tran died from pancreatic cancer. Clark is a family friend who adopted him.

Friday marked the boy’s second try at the championship. He first entered the bee in fifth grade. His interest in geography surfaced early; he has always studied different countries, his mother said. When a news event occurred, he would always ask about the location.

“He always showed you which country he liked,” she said.

To prepare for the contest, Huy studied multiple sources, such as atlases and Internet sites, for about a month, he said.

“I was sort of natural at it,” he said, conceding he had been nervous.

He plans to become a biochemist.

Albuquerque Academy sixth and seventh grade co-division head Martha Palmer sat in the back silently cheering Huy on with sweaty palms. “I was confident he would do well,” she said. “He’s a wonderful student.”

In history class, the students perform United Nations projects to work with geography, she said.

“He’s demonstrated a real interest in that subject matter,” she added.

Second place winner Gabriel Cuneo was last year’s champion.

“I’ve been studying (geography) since fourth grade,” he said, “to know the world and know where you live.”

“If you know more about the world, you’re a better person, a better citizen. I still look at maps and say, ‘I’d better know that river’,” he said.

Ten-year-old Adittyo Paul was the youngest of the top three finalists. He studied atlases and reference books for two months.

“It’s interesting to know all the different places in the world,” he said.

The top 10 national finalists will be eligible for selection for a three-person team to represent the U.S. at the National Geographic World Championship in July to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia.

National Geographic developed the bee in 1989 in response to concern about geographic ignorance among young people. Of 10 countries surveyed in a National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs 2006 Geographic Literacy Study, Americans placed ninth on overall geographic knowledge. It revealed that less than six months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, 33 percent could not point out Louisiana on a map.