Staff writer
The site of an ancient lighthouse on the island of Pharos attracts visitors to Alexandria, a port city in which African country?
By correctly answering “Egypt,” sixth-grader Tori Smith won the Marion Elementary School Geography Bee on Friday. Tyler Arocha was the runner-up.
It was the most competitive bee MES Principal Rod Garman has overseen in 16 years, he said. The bee took all seven preliminary rounds available to winnow 28 fourth- through sixth-grade contestants to fewer than 10 for the final rounds. Garman had never seen a bee advance to the sixth preliminary round.
“What impressed me most was how they were all able to use contextual clues,” Garman said.
Using context is also an important facet of reading comprehension, he said.
Despite the level of competition, students were supportive of one another, offering each other high-fives whether they answered questions correctly or incorrectly.
Garman credited much of the bee’s competitiveness to teacher Ginger Becker hosting a geography club each morning before school the previous two weeks. Becker predicted the bee would be the longest Garman had seen.
As school champion, Smith will take a qualifying test for the state geography bee. The winner of the state bee will advance to the national bee.