“The Pacific.”

And with that answer Paris Elementary School fifth-grade student George Floster became the winner of the school’s geography bee.

George, the son of John and Lisa Floster, is a former basketball and baseball player, who likes to study on the Internet and read.

George was recently notified by the National Geographic Society that he is a semi-finalist, eligible to compete in the Maine National Geographic Society Geography Bee this month. The event will be held at the University of Maine Farmington on Friday, March 31.

According to information from the National Geographic Society, the bee in March is the second level of the national competition. Bees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students to determine each school champion. The National Geographic Society invited up to 100 winners in each state to compete in the statewide bee. That winner will go to Washington, D.C., in May to compete for the national honor.

The state winner will receive $100 and the National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World, fourth edition, while the national winner will receive $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime subscription to National Geographic and an all expenses paid Lindblad expedition to the Galapagos aboard the new National Geographic Endeavor II, according to a statement from the National Geographic Society.

The national bee will be telecast on public broadcast stations on Friday, May 18, at 8 p.m.

ldixon@sunmediagroup.net