Ben Madnick wins schoolwide geography bee

| 06 Feb 2014 | 12:37

— Eighth grader Ben Madnick placed first in the school-wide competition of the National Geography Bee Competition at the C. J. Hooker Middle School. Sam Sherlock, grade 6, won second place; Ryan Garton, grade 8, placed third; and Braden Smith, grade 6, and Anthony Palazzola, grade 8, tied for fourth.

The school-level Bee, where students answered oral questions on geography, was the first round in the 26th annual National Geographic Society. Madnick 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.

The students who participated were Rebecca Andrews, Siddhi Balamurali, Lauren Biel, Caroline Burnham, Joseph Castellanos, Christopher Chirico, Matt Dowling, Cooper Drummond, Ryan Garton, Alexander Gross, Brock Hunt, Olivia Klugman, Jimmy Lindeman, Matthew Lopez, Ben Madnick, Daley McMahon, Anthony Palazzola, Jeremy Pantoni,* Trey Patel, Stephen Perrillo-Sullivan, Nastasia Radulov, Sam Sherlock, Rachel Shih, Braden Smith, Tyler Smith, James Tomczak and Fernando Villamil.

The top ten students who participated in the final competition were Ryan Garton, Ben Madnick, Daley McMahon, Anthony Palazzola, Jeremy Pantoni, Nastasia Radulov, Sam Sherlock, Rachel Shih, Braden Smith, and Fernando Villamil.