SIDNEY — Ryan Fitchpatrick, daughter of Ronnie and Robin Fitchpatrick, won the school competition of the National Geographic Bee recently at Holy Angels School in Sidney. The school GeoBee, at which students answered questions on geography, was the first round in the 32nd annual National Geographic Bee. Thousands of schools around the United States and in the five U.S. territories are participating in the 2019-20 bee.
The school champions, including Fitchpatrick, will take an online test; up to 100 of the top scorers on that test in each state will then be eligible to compete in their state GeoBee. The winners of the State GeoBees receive an all-expenses-paid trip to participate in the GeoBee national championship in Spring 2020. Students will be competing for cash prizes, scholarships and an all-expenses-paid Lindblad expedition to the Galápagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavour ll.
Second place winner of the GeoBee held at Holy Angels was Brennan Potts, son of Tom and Jana Potts, while third place went to Eliza Westerheide, daughter of Jay and Anne Westerheide. Other grade level competitors included Matthew Adams and Cash Gephart, fourth-grade; Julia Smith, fifth grade; Jenna Baker and Natalie Noe, sixth-grade; Potts and Westerheide, seventh-grade; and Taylor Geise and Fitchpatrick, eighth—grade.
