MOORPARK TEEN WINS 3RD GEOGRAPHY BEE.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

Zachary Ramirez never crams before one of the Geography Bees he excels in. He barely even cracks a book, because he already has so much stored up knowledge on the subject that he just keeps buzzing past the competition in those bees.

Now, for the third straight year, the Chaparral Middle School eighth-grader has won the school site National Geography Bee sponsored by the National Geographic Society. His win could make him eligible to compete in the statewide competition, and ultimately win a $25,000 college scholarship.

He's also made the state competition the two years prior.

How does he prepare for the contests? Nothing complicated, really, says the 14-year-old.

``I have these flash cards that I glance at before the preliminaries, school finals or the state,'' Zachary said. ``It's just to get my mind in the mode - they're not really related to the geography bee.''

The student defeated nearly 50 others who made the preliminaries, said history teacher Paula Chung, who coordinates the bee at the school.

``He's a cool kid,'' Chung said. ``He's won our geography bee here at Chaparral three years in a row.''

Schools across the country kicked off the bee Dec. 2 when students in each school took a 25-question exam. From there, the top two scorers from each history class participated in a preliminary competition, where the field was narrowed down to about ten who competed in the school finals.

``That's where the champion is crowned, I guess - not literally,'' Zachary said.

Now, in the next few weeks, he will take a written test which will be scored at the society's Washington D.C. headquarters. The top 100 scorers from each state then participate in the state finals, scheduled for April 4.

The state champions in turn compete in the National Geography Bee nationals in Washington D.C. on May 27 and 28.

The first place winner of the national finals, to be moderated by ``Jeopardy!'' television game show show host Alex Trebek, wins a $25,000 scholarship.

The school finals are done in the auditorium before an audience of classmates, Zachary said. He gets nervous only before the first question, then eases up as he gets into the swing of things, he said.

``After that you know what you know, I guess,'' Zachary said.

The bee consists of oral and written questions covering current events, and physical, cultural and political geography.

Zachary said he first became interested in geography as an 8- or 9-year-old, when his aunt would take him on trips across the state and let him plot out the course.

``She let me navigate since I was very young - that's what got me interested,'' he said.

But he also loves to read the kinds of volumes that many kids his age flee from, screaming - encyclopedias, newspapers, ``almanacs once in a while,'' all helping feed his reading habit, he said.

``I do watch `Jeopardy!' once in a while,'' he added.

If he makes California's top 100, Zachary will make the state finals for the third year in a row. He'll be notified by letter in February if he made it, he said.

He's never gone beyond the national competition, so this time, if he makes state, he might do things a little differently.

``I might study a little more - not cram, just study in the days before the event.''

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Photo

Photo: (color in SIMI edition only) Chaparral eighth-grader Zachary Ramirez won the school's geography bee for the third straight year.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News