Seventh grader Spencer Pogue became the Edgartown School’s National Geographic Society 2015 geography bee winner on Tuesday, Feb. 3. A world traveler, top-notch student, and participant in both sports and music, he used his interest in world geography to answer a variety of questions that started with classroom bees and ended with a schoolwide championship.
Moderator and school librarian Nancy Cole led students through the rules and rounds of questions as the two judges, Michael Lynch and Ellie Parece, and a gym full of students, staff, and parents looked on. Sixth grade social studies teacher Pati Nelson was this year’s bee coordinator, which began with individual classes in fourth through eighth grade determining class winners.
Spencer entered the final round against eighth grader Hollis Kelly; they both answered the first two questions correctly, with Spencer pulling out the victory with the final question. Other classroom winners who competed on Tuesday were Hollis Kelly (grade 8), Hunter Cleary (8), Catherine Cherry (7), Ethan Creato (6), Brant Maynard (6), Sara Creato (5), Brendan Donnelly (5), Julia Murray (4), and Caroline Kelleher (4).
Spencer will now take a written test that will determine eligibility for competition at the state level in hopes of becoming one of the top 100 geography bee students in the state, and to be invited to Washington, D.C., for the finals scheduled for May of this year.