Josiah Colby, a Langley Middle School seventh-grader, has qualified to compete in the Washington State Geography Bee in Tacoma next week.

Josiah, son of Faulder and Melisa Colby of Clinton, won the school geography bee earlier this year.

He then took a written exam, which was submitted to the National Geographic Society. Students with the top 100 scores on the exam are invited to compete at the state level.

The 2011 Washington Geographic Bee will be held at Pacific Lutheran University on Friday, April 1. The state winner will receive $100, “The Complete National Geographic on DVD” and a trip to Washington, D.C. to compete in the national finals on May 24-25.

The first-place winner of the national contest will receive a $25,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the society. The national winner and a parent or guardian also will win an all-expenses-paid trip to the Galapagos Islands.