January
11, 2012 – Vishnu Rao-Sharma placed first in the
school-wide competition of the National Geography Bee Competition at the
C. J. Hooker Middle School. Second place went to Julia Hunt, and
Michelle Kuns and Brendan Hughes won third and fourth place,
respectively.
The school-level Bee, where students answered oral
questions on geography, was the first round in the 23rd annual National
Geographic Society. Rao-Sharma will be administered a qualifying test to
determine whether he will compete at the state-level competition. All
school winners are eligible to
win the national championship and its
first prize, a $25,000 college scholarship, at the national competition
in May, held in Washington, D. C.
The National Geographic Bee, an educational program of the National Geographic Society, is a nationwide geography competition for students in grades 4-8, designed to encourage the teaching and study of geography.
This year’s Geography Bee participants included 27
students: Daniel Allspach, Coleman Barnes, Jasmon Chattaway, Patrick
Cuddy, Griffin DeClerck, Shannon Doherty, Liam Farrell, Kelly Fellenzer,
Amit Fuchs, Michael Glick, Elaina Helbeck, Brendan Hughes, Julia Hunt,
Michelle Kuns, Mark Laaninen, Brendon Malan, Honor Montmarquet, Jocelyn
Marone, Ricky Maruottolo, Angelos Panayotidi, Valmic Patel, Hank Persoon,
Vishnu Rao-Sharma, Jacob Rysinger, Jesse Shih, Matt Smith and Sam
Wiener.
Top photo: The contestants of this year's school-wide competition of the National Geography Bee Competition at the C. J. Hooker Middle School.
Middle photo: The top four, from left, Brendan Hughes, fourth place; Michelle Kuns, third place; Julia Hunt, second place; and Vishnu Rao-Sharma, first place.
Bottom photo: The top 10 contestants. Back row, from left, Jacob Rysinger, Brendan Hughes, Michelle Kuns, Vishnu Rao-Sharma, Julia Hunt, Mark Laaninen. Front row, from left, Ricky Maruottolo, Angelos Panayotidi, Sam Wiener, Jesse Shih.