Eesha Ramanathan wins school competition of National Geographic Bee

GOSHEN — Eesha Ramanathan, a sixth-grade student at C.J. Hooker Middle School in Goshen, took first place in the school's competition of the 2017 National Geographic Bee. Her classmates, Virginia Valens, Bridgette Bennis and Annie Shih, took second, third and fourth place, respectively.
The school bee was the first round in the 29 annual National Geographic Bee. Thousands of schools in the United States are participating in the 2017 bee. School champions will take a qualifying test, with up to 100 of the top scorers in each state eligible to compete in their state bee on April 1.
State winners will receive an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the national championship in May and a $50,000 college scholarship, provided by the National Geographic Society.
Other prizes include a lifetime membership in the Society, a subscription to National Geographic magazine, and a National Geographic Expeditions trip to a national park in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.
The following students participated in the National Geographic Bee:
Andrew Alspach
Jason Barnes
Bridgette Bennis*
Madilyn Bunzey
Tallon Clark
Jackson Diglio
James Dimitrov
Emily Dong
Kapil Foster
Kaitlin Garon
Joe Kelly*
Brianna Kimmel*
Charissa Logan
Kevin Meltzer*
Ben Pahucki
Ryan Primus*
Eesha Ramanathan*
Derrick Ramos
Kristin Seperac
Annie Shih*
Benjamin Thurtle*
Jannah Uppal
Virginia Valens*
Jilian Welshoff
Sarah Williams
Hannah Yeddu
Serena Yeddu*

*Indicates students who were in the top 10 and participated in the final competition.