By Kaitlyn Kanzler, Special Writer
CRANBURY — Students were riveted as they watched 12 of their peers battle it out for the top spot during Cranbury School’s Geography Bee on Jan 11.
According to Social Studies teacher Danielle Burke, who hosted the competition with Sara Fernandez, another Social Studies teacher, the students competing went seven full rounds before anyone was knocked out, a first in her six years running the competition at Cranbury School.
”It really was such a wonderful opportunity for them to shine and to kind of show how poised they can be in a public setting,” Ms. Burke said.
The top three finishers were honored at the Feb. 12 Board of Education meeting along with the 12 other finalists.
”It was really nerve-wracking and I feel really bad for the students, Ms. Fernandez said. “ They handled themselves with such amazing grace.”
According to Ms. Burke, the entire competition was a nail biter in each round.
Finishing in first was eighth grader Ameya Hadap who will take a qualifying test to see if he will compete in the state competition in March, according to Chief School Administrator Susan Genco.
Coming in second place was eighth grader Jasmir Sethi, and sixth grader Samuel Harshbarger rounded out the final three.
According to Ms. Fernandez, Ameya and Jasmir battled it out until a single winner came out on top.
”There was so much less material to learn (when we went to school),” Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction Jeannine Lamphear said. “Really, the world is very different now and there is just so much more geopolitically for the students to learn.”
Ameya won the competition by correctly answering a question asking which river the Three Gorges Dam is located on, which is the Yangtze River located in China.
According to Ms. Lamphear, while this wasn’t the first time the Geography Bee was held, this was the first time the entire middle school was involved.
”We normally do the final round in our classrooms so it was a little more informal (then), but here it was so formal because the entire middle school had their eyes glued to these kids for seven rounds,” Ms. Fernandez said.
According to Ms. Fernandez, every student participated with the final 12 students competing in the school’s auditorium.
”They impressed us so much, especially those that are here tonight to be honored, and even more incredible for the whole community, for perspective, is how amazing the audience was during the process, how supportive they were, how kind, how quiet,” Ms. Burke said.
According to Dr. Genco, the Cranbury Parent Teacher Organization provided a trophy and a gift card for Barnes and Noble for the winner.
In addition to winning the Geography Bee, Ameya also won the annual Spelling Bee.
