Broken Arrow School sixth-grader Stefan Petrovic has broken through to the finals of the 2010 National Geographic Bee in Washington, D.C.

Now Stefan, 12, will compete in the final leg of his quest for the national title at 5 p.m. today with “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek as the moderator.

Stefan is representing Kansas after winning the state bee in April. His teacher in the gifted program, Mary Van Dyke, plus his parents, Uros and Zina Petrovic, and sister Vera Petrovic are with him in Washington.

Stefan survived a tie-breaker Tuesday among several other contestants and made it to the final round.

“It was very intense,” his father said.

Stefan qualified for the top 10 along with students representing Florida, Utah, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Virginia, Georgia, Idaho, West Virginia and Rhode Island.

Stefan’s father said he was proud of all 54 national contestants.

“The level of knowledge and critical thinking that they have shown, each and every one of them, was absolutely astounding,” Uros Petrovic said.

The champion will receive a $25,000 college scholarship as well as an all-expense-paid trip to the Galapagos Islands.