[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 83 (Friday, May 28, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1012-E1013]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  AADITH MOORTHY OF PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA WINS NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BEE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. C.W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 28, 2010

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, Aadith Moorthy, a 13-year-old 
eighth grader from Palm Harbor Middle School, which I have the 
privilege to represent, won the National Geographic Bee in our Nation's 
capital this week.
  This is quite an accomplishment for this Pinellas County teenager, as 
this is one of our Nation's most difficult academic competitions. It 
took hours of studying and preparation time. Aadith says one of his 
keys to success was his writing down 20 facts at a time and memorizing 
them. As he got closer to the national competition, he upped his daily 
routine to writing and memorizing 50 facts a day.

[[Page E1013]]

  While others were out enjoying our great weather in Florida, Aadith 
was inside studying 10 hours a day on weekends. His hard work and 
dedication paid off with this national honor, along with winning a 
$25,000 college scholarship and a trip to the Galapagos Islands.
  Aadith brought with him to Washington his personal cheering section 
that included his father Subramaniam, his mother Suguna, and Michelle 
Anderson, his teacher from Palm Harbor Middle School.
  Madam Speaker, following my remarks I will include for the benefit of 
my colleagues a report from the St. Petersburg Times by Theodora 
Aggeles that describes in detail the tense competition that led to 
Aadith's title. It also talks about the pride his principal Victoria 
Hawkins and all of his classmates and teachers at Palm Harbor Middle 
School have in Aadith and the national acclaim he has brought their 
school.
  Please join me in honoring and congratulating Aadith Moorthy as the 
2010 National Geographic Bee champion and for months of hard work and 
study that resulted in a job well done.

            Palm Harbor Student Wins National Geographic Bee

                         (By Theodora Aggeles)

       Aadith Moorthy will get the star treatment in New York City 
     today, a day after winning the 22nd annual National 
     Geographic Bee in Washington, D.C.
       ``I'm going to be interviewed on The Early Show, Fox 13, 
     CNN and MSN tomorrow,'' he said Wednesday in a telephone 
     interview while en route to the airport for his flight to New 
     York. ``I'm happy. I feel relieved that I don't have to study 
     anymore.''
       The 13-year-old eighth-grader from Palm Harbor Middle 
     School beat out nine other boys in a battle of world 
     knowledge. He wins a $25,000 college scholarship and a trip 
     to the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific west of Ecuador.
       ``I can take a break and get back to my singing,'' said 
     Aadith, who gives local performances of Carnatic music, the 
     classical music of southern India. ``I haven't had much time 
     to practice, and I've missed that.''
       Interestingly enough, he was put on the spot during 
     introductions when host Alex Trebek asked him to sing a 
     Carnatic tune.
       The final question asked for the largest city in northern 
     Haiti, which was renamed following Haiti's independence from 
     France. The answer was Cap-Haitien. Aadith had it and gave a 
     small fist pump.
       ``I feel great,'' Aadith said with a big smile shortly 
     afterward. ``The mission is accomplished.''
       His father, Subramaniam Satyamoorthy, gave him a hug and 
     bowed slightly before his geography whiz son.
       When writing 20 new facts a day helped him win the state 
     championship, Aadith boosted his fact writing to 50 a day 
     studying for the national bee. That preparation helped him 
     advance to the final 10 Tuesday and win it all Wednesday.
       By now, ``he has enough (knowledge) for a couple of 
     books,'' his father said.
       Aadith spent most of the bee, though, on the edge of 
     defeat. He was the only contestant to answer incorrectly in 
     the first round of Wednesday's finals and would have been 
     eliminated if he was wrong again. He acknowledged he was 
     scared, but nerves didn't throw the aspiring physicist.
       ``We were worried when he missed that question in the first 
     round,'' said Aadith's mother, Suguna Moorthy. ``Now we are 
     so happy there are no words to express how we feel.
       ``He spent so many hours preparing. On school days, he 
     studied geography before he completed his homework. On 
     weekends he studied 10 hours a day.''
       His teacher, Michelle Anderson, who also traveled to 
     Washington to watch Aadith compete, said that misstep didn't 
     shake his confidence.
       ``His first question was really tough,'' Anderson said. 
     ``It was something about which city had 71/2 million people 
     within its city limits. He had three choices.
       ``Aadith knew it wasn't Kiev. When he chose Kuala Lumpur, 
     Malaysia, and it was Kinshasa, he didn't lose his 
     concentration. He stayed focused, which says a lot for his 
     control, his stamina and endurance. And he took the whole 
     competition.''
       Aadith clinched the victory with knowledge of Botswana, 
     Argentina and Sweden in the best-of-five final round, as his 
     final opponent, 13-year-old Oliver Lucier of Wakefield, R.I., 
     stumbled.
       ``They were hard. They were really hard,'' Oliver said of 
     the final questions.
       Still, Oliver, a soccer player, will take home a $15,000 
     scholarship for second place. Karthik Mouli, 12, of Boise, 
     Idaho, came in third to win a $10,000 scholarship. Both 
     runners-up also represented their states at the national bee 
     last year.
       Right after the victory, Aadith and his proud entourage 
     were giving nonstop interviews to television crews, newspaper 
     reporters and radio show hosts. A few hours later, he was off 
     to New York.
       Aadith knows he will get a break on Friday when he comes 
     home, but when he was asked what he's looking forward to, he 
     said, ``Sleeping in my own bed.''
       Principal Victoria Hawkins of Palm Harbor Middle School is 
     thrilled for Aadith, the school and the school district.
       ``We are so proud of him,'' she said. ``He is an 
     unbelievable student with a huge thirst for knowledge.''
       His teacher, Anderson, said she ``felt a sense of immense 
     joy and pride when he answered the winning question.''
       ``I'm proud to have had a small role in helping him. This 
     was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.''
       Fast facts
       Questions asked in the final round
       1. Tswana is a Bantu language spoken by the largest ethnic 
     group in what land-locked country? Answer: Botswana.
       2. The Oresund Bridge opened in 2000; it connects 
     Copenhagen, Denmark, with what Swedish city? Answer: Malmo.
       3. Cam Ranh Bay has served as a naval base for Japan, 
     France, U.S. and the former Soviet Union. This bay is located 
     in which country. Answer: Vietnam.

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