Cooperstown Central School student Paul Kennedy will be in Albany tomorrow, but his mind will be focused on locations much farther away.

Kennedy is competing at the New York State Museum in the National Geographic Bee state-level competition along with 99 of his peers where he will be tested on world and United States geography for a chance to attend the national competition in Washington D.C. later this year.

"I'm pretty excited," Kennedy said March 20. "It's been pretty fun. I'll do ok, but I hope I win."

The top winner in each state's competition goes on to compete in the nation's capital for scholarships worth $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000.

Kennedy, 13, earned the right to compete at the state-level after receiving one of the top 100 scores on a 70-question, multiple choice test taken by school champions throughout the state in January.

He became CCS's champion after winning the school geography bee in December. He won by outlasting 14 of his middle school peers in a difficult competition which tested contestants' knowledge of U.S. and world geography.

In preparation for the state bee, Kennedy said he is looking through various geography books, studying a world atlas and reviewing sample questions on the National Geographic website.

Maggie Pokorny, Kennedy's eighth grade social studies teacher and mentor for the competition, said she gave him some suggestions about how and what to study, but that the best way to help him was with a hands-off approach.

"He's doing pretty good all on his own," she said. "We're not going to mess with success. I'm sure that there's going to be a great level of competition there, but the whole school is behind him we're hoping he's going to do great."

Middle school principal Michael Cring said both Kennedy's and seventh-grade spelling bee champion Michael Leonardo's achievements were testament to the school's excellent student body.

"It says a lot for our student body that they were able to move on to the next level," he said. "We're sure they'll do us proud."

(Leonardo finished first in the Daily Star Regional Spelling Bee and won an all-expenses paid trip to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Washington D.C.)