February 9, 2018
The Town-Crier
Rosarian Academy middle school students recently competed at the school-level in the National Geographic Bee and the National Spelling Bee.
Joseph Coates, an eighth-grade student at Rosarian Academy, won the school-level competition of the National Geographic Bee on Jan. 19, and a chance at a $50,000 college scholarship. The school-level bee, at which students answered oral questions on geography, was the first round in the 30th annual National Geographic Bee. A total of 10,000 schools across the nation are participating in the event. The school champions, including Coates, will take a qualifying test; up to 100 of the top scorers on that test in each state will then be eligible to compete in their state bee on April 6. The National Geographic Society will provide an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for state winners to participate in the national championship rounds May 20-23. The first-place national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship, a lifetime subscription to National Geographic magazine, a trip and $500.
The school-level competition of the 2018 National Spelling Bee was held on Jan. 23. Sixteen students in grades five through eight competed. After 23 rounds, fifth-grader Nicholas Grippi won with the champion word “martingale.” Runner-up Emma Chopin, also a fifth-grade student, nearly clinched the title twice but fell short of spelling the championship word correctly. They will both represent Rosarian at the Regional Southeastern Florida Scripps Spelling Bee on Monday, Feb. 12 at the Benjamin School.
