OBSERVER Photo by Mary Heyl. Fredonia Middle School teacher Cathy Casini-Steger is pictured here with her student, fifth grader Ray Dai, who is competing in the National Geographic GeoBee state level competition in Albany on Friday.

Fifth grader Ray Dai, a Fredonia Middle School student, is not only representing his school, but the entire western New York region as he competes in the National Geographic GeoBee state level competition in Albany on Friday.

Sponsored by the National Geographic Society, the GeoBee includes three levels of competition: school, state and national and is open to students in grades four through eight. On Dec. 19, 2018, Fredonia students in grades four through eight competed in the school competition, and Dai emerged as the winner.

In addition to winning his school competition, Dai also sat for a qualifying exam to be one of 100 students competing in the state competition today.

“In late January, I took the test online,” Dai explained. “There were 70 multiple choice questions on national and world geography.” Dai is one of only six fifth grade students in the entire state to qualify for the state competition, and is the first student from Fredonia to qualify for this event in 15 years.

While the fifth grade student has been working hard all year to advance to this level of the competition, his interest in geography began much earlier than that. “When I was in PreK, my mom bought me a book with all of the world flags in it,” Dai explained. “Then when I was in first grade, my teacher had a world map on the wall, and I learned about all the countries of the world.”

According to Dai, questions typically begin with basic U.S. geography but advance to world geography. Last year, when he was a fourth grade student in Mrs. Putnam’s class, Dai began participating in the school’s GeoBee competition. This is the first time he has advanced to the state level.

Dai’s interest in geography continued to grow this year in middle school teacher Cathy Casini-Steger’s class, where Dai takes ELA and social studies.

“I’m so proud of Ray,” Casini-Steger said. “He is just a top student, and a real intrinsic learner. He has a passion for learning that he brings to every subject.”

Fredonia Middle School has been cheering him on all week long. On Wednesday, the school held a hat day for Dai. For $1, students could wear a hat to school, and all money raised supported Dai’s trip to Albany. Today, the school is gathering at the middle school entrance for a “clap out,” to wish him well as he departs for the state capitol with his mom, sister and grandparents.

On Friday morning, Dai will compete in the preliminary round against 99 other students, and by afternoon, the competition will be whittled down to 10. Dai explained that in some rounds, students are given individual questions to answer aloud; in other rounds, students are all given the same question and provided with pen and paper — and 15 seconds — to give their answer. Dai has been practicing for months by watching past GeoBee competitions online, reading and studying his Enchantment of the World book series.

The state champion will receive a medal, $1,000 in cash and other prizes, as well as a trip to Washington, D.C. to compete in the national competition from May 19 to 21. According to Dai, the national competition, which is televised, has 54 competitors representing all U.S. states and territories.

While he hopes to qualify for the final round of the competition, Dai said, “I’m mostly excited about meeting people from all over the state!”