Know your geography!

This year’s Bee in our home state was, as always, a joyful get-together!   Students from 51 Rhode Island schools, ranging from grades 4-8, were involved.  Nine geo-talented students were returning for a second time!

Well-prepared students and their parents were excited about the competition– a lot of individual and family preparation and study precedes this event!  Questions are never easy….  Knowing about your state, your country, and the world is essential.  Many adults in the audience were stumped by questions that received correct replies by expert students!

Denise M. Moretti-Foggo, a longtime Rhode Island educator, is the Rhode Island Geography Bee Coordinator.  Denise cheerfully and efficiently coordinates all aspects of the event.  Denise arranges for the venue, the help of many volunteers, and just makes it fun for everyone.  There are gifts, and snacks and a nice lunch for everyone!   She follows the guidelines set forth by National Geographic who help arrange for Bees in the 50 states.  Denise will also attend the  finals for the Geography Bee in Washington, DC.

Participants!

The Mayor of Cranston, Allan Fung, spoke to all the participants.  He was delighted that the event was again this year held in his city.

You can go to this site HERE to see all the state winners!  You can read an account from the Cranston Herald HERE!

All the kids signed in on this large map poster by tagging theirs names on the map poster our company provided.

Every student is a winner!

On both the school and state level, the competition is challenging!  Each student who attended was a winner from their school.   As coordinator Denise Moretti-Foggo explained the rules for the finals of the RI event, she said this:
“I do want to commend the students who didn’t make it to the finals,” she told the crowd. “I want you to know, that you are all winners already, simply by making it here. Congratulations on that accomplishment.”

The winner of this year’s final Rhode Island event was Maximus D. Terra.  He is an 8th grader at the Feinstein Middle School in Coventry.

The runner-up was 6th grader Nate Gray from Moses Brown School in Providence.

The state champion has been invited to attend the National Bee in Washington, D.C.,  May 20-23, 2018.  We all wish Maximus Terra the very best!

National Geographic provides a bright blue souvenir T-shirt for each contestant!