Middle School students put their geography knowledge to work, answering challenging questions about Earth’s oceans, continents and countries during the Middle School Geography Bee last week on the Hurlbut Theater stage.

The students were selected to compete through a qualifying quiz that all Middle School students took in history class, which determined the top 10 contestants in each grade level. The final competition, run by the Middle School history & social sciences department with questions asked by Director of Library Services Darla Magana, was single-elimination rounds, which whittled the field from 30 students down to the final two, Sarah Pence (grade 8) and Harrison Trikas (grade 7).

The competition is part of the nationwide National Geographic Bee, organized by the National Geographic Society, which welcomes students from 10,000 schools across the country. The nationwide competition culminates with the National Championship at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington D.C., in May, with the overall winner receiving a $50,000 scholarship.

In the end, Sarah won the St. Margaret's competition by answering the question “Name the U.S. state that is made up of two parts, commonly called the Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula.” Her answer of Michigan was correct, and she will take a qualifying quiz for a chance to compete in the National Geographic State Bee in Sacramento this spring.

Sarah, Harrison and third-place winner Jonathan Lee (grade 6) received Amazon gift cards for placing in the top three.