A Broken Arrow sixth-grader hopes to put Lawrence on the map as he represents Kansas next week in the 2010 National Geographic Bee in Washington, D.C.

Stefan Petrovic, 12, is one of 54 finalists vying for the title of bee champion, which comes with a $25,000 college scholarship as well as an all-expense-paid trip to the Galapagos Islands.

Stefan advanced to the national competition by winning the state geography bee April 9 in Abilene.

The preliminary round of the National Geographic Bee will take place on Tuesday, with the top 10 participants advancing to the final round on Wednesday.

If Stefan makes the finals, you can watch him in action. The final round of the bee will be televised at 5 p.m. Wednesday on the National Geographic Channel, Sunflower Broadband Channel 83.

Brian McClendon, a Lawrence native and vice president of engineering with Google, congratulates Stefan and writes about the importance of geography education on Sunday’s Journal-World editorial page.