F-M students shine in annual Geography Bee 

Google Maps has met its competitor (wink, wink), and it’s the 13 Wellwood Middle School and 14 Eagle Hill Middle School students who recently rocked the esteemed 2018 National Geographic Geography Bee at their respective schools.

The students proved they really know their way around the world when they were tested on their knowledge of geography and competed for the opportunity to advance to the national level.

The Geography Bee is an annual competition organized by the National Geographic Society, and is designed to inspire and reward students’ curiosity about the world. Students in grades 4 through 8 from 10,000 schools across the United States compete in this annual competition.

Students who scored the highest on school-wide qualifying exams were eligible to compete in the schools’ Bees. The Bee winners then take a qualifying written test for the state-level competition, and the top scorers are eligible to compete at the New York State Bee in April. The state winner will travel to the national competition in Washington, D.C. in May.

Congratulations to Eagle Hill’s top finalists: Joseph Stewart (first place), Tyler Koehne (second place) and Nadia Taeckens (third place), and to Wellwood’s top finalists: James Hoehner (first place), Lucas Gascon (second place) and Gene Balian (third place).

Congratulations to all the students who were selected from a large pool of competitors to participate in the rigorous competition.

Eagle Hill

Eddie Elliott, Tyler Koehne, Peilin Lu, Henry Knapick, George Knapick, Alex Nelson-Boyle, Daniel Patrick, Anthony Prince, Emmeline Reinhardt, Nadia Taeckens, Noah Taeckens, Joseph Stewart, Ethan Wicks and Maggie Wu.

Three students holding certifcates and trophies.

From the left are Eagle Hill’s top three finalists: Joseph Stewart, grade 8, first place; Tyler Koehne, grade 6, second place; Nadia Taeckens, grade 8, third place.

Group of Eagle Hill students holding certificates.

From the left are Peilin Lu, Emmeline Reinhardt, Daniel Patrick, Alex Nelson-Boyle, Henry Knapick, Joseph Stewart, Eddie Elliott, Tyler Koehne, Ethan Wicks, Anthony Prince, Maggie Wu, Noah Taeckens, Nadia Taeckens and George Knapick.

Wellwood

Gene Balian, Meher Chahal, Izze Christen, Mae Cohen, Lucas Gascon, Ella Gtubka, James Hoehner, John Klick, Eli Kligerman, Nolan McGinn, Kaelem Michel, Emma Vandewater and Cameron Worden.

Three boys holding trophies.

Pictured from the left are Gene Balian, grade 7, third place; James Hoehner, grade 8, 1st place; and Lucas Gascon, grade 8, 2nd place.

group photo of geography Bee participants holding certificates and trophies.

From the left in the top row are Emma Vandewater, Cameron Worden, Gene Balian, Lucas Gascon, James Hoehner, Ella Gtubka and John Klick. In the front row, from the left, are Eli Kligerman, Mae Cohen, Izze Christen, Kaelem Michel, Meher Chahal and Nolan McGinn.