Unalaska, AK – Unalaska seventh grader Carlin Enlow is competing in a statewide geography competition in Anchorage on Friday.

Enlow will represent Unalaska as one of 100 competitors from across Alaska in the state finals for the National Geographic Bee, an annual contest sponsored by the National Geographic Society that tests kids' knowledge of world events and geography.

Enlow won the school-level bee in Unalaska in January. She said that doing well in the competition mostly comes down to doing a lot of studying.

"I do it before I go to bed, and in free time after I've done my homework," she said. "I've got three hours on the plane ride [to Anchorage]--the whole time I'm going to be studying."

Enlow bested nine other students from grades five through eight to win the local bee. She says she's gotten some pointers from Laura Haskins, whose son Kyle won the bee last year.

Unalaska City School social studies teacher Jim Wilson, who worked with the Unalaska kids to prepare for the geography bee, said that knowledge of geography and world events is increasingly important for kids growing up in the 21st Century.

"Twenty years ago I think you would know your community," he said. "But kids nowadays, with the web and chat rooms and everything else, they interact with people from around the world in a way that I never did when I was a kid. So I think it's so important for them to be aware of issues around the world."

The winner of the state-level geography bee will go to the national finals in Washington D.C. in May.