Eighth Grader Gets Crowned 2019 WMS Geography Bee Champion

The Neil Shapiro Center for the Performing Arts was filled with excited middle schoolers both in the audience and on the stage, for the annual Geography Bee last Friday.

Ten competitors lined the stage, prepared for questions that were broken up into three categories: U.S. Geography, World Geography, and the Final Championship round. The final 10 were selected as a result of classroom rounds executed across all three grade levels.

The bee was conducted following the National Geographic model that was implemented in all 50 states, set in motion to determine the top geography students from across the nation.

Students were provided with National Geographic study materials and resources to prepare for the bee.

Eighth-grader Dan Healy ultimately won the championship and was crowned Winthrop Middle School Geography Bee Champion for 2019. Having had the top scores in all three rounds of the competition, Healy will go on to take an online geography quiz from National Geographic, in hopes of making it to the state competition.

Sixth-graders Tim Vargas and Christian Bower followed closely behind Healy and advanced to the third and final round of the competition.

“It was Dan’s goal to win, and he was firing on all cylinders right out of the gate,” said Jason Durkee, seventh-grade Social Studies teacher and moderator of the event.

The following students made it to the first round of the bee:

8th Grade

Dan Healy 

Chris Rainey

Loert Mana 

Alex Daigneault  

7th Grade:

Shannon Abbott 

Naida Aldweib

Samantha DiMento

6th Grade:

Tim Vargas  

Hacen Bourkiche

Christian Bower