LEWISTON — Ryan Courbron, a sixth-grade student at Martel Elementary School, has been notified by the National Geographic Society that he is one of the semifinalists eligible to compete in the 2011 Maine Geographic Bee. The bee, sponsored by Google and Plum Creek, will be held on Friday, April 1, at the University of Maine at Farmington. Courbron is the son of Dawn Hartill and Craig Courbron.

Bees were held in schools with fourth- through eighth-grade students throughout the state to determine each school’s winner. School-level winners then took a qualifying test, which they submitted to the National Geographic Society. In each of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Dependents Schools, and the U.S. territories, the National Geographic Society invited the students with the top 100 scores to compete at the state level.

The state winner will receive $100, the “Complete National Geographic on DVD” and a trip to Washington, D.C., where he or she will represent Maine in the national finals at the National Geographic Society headquarters on May 24 and 25. The first-place national winner will receive a $25,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the society. The national winner will also travel (along with one parent or guardian), all expenses paid, to the Galapagos Islands.

For more information on the National Geographic Bee, visit www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee.