Hot Springs hosts National Geographic Bee

The Hot Springs School held its annual National Geographic Bee for the fourth through eight graders Jan. 26. Eighth-grader Jesse Uski, a returning geography bee champion, took first place, with fourth-grader Weston Slonaker coming in second and sixth-grader Sydney Viegut winning third place. Each class held its own competition and the top two contestants went on compete in the school-wide bee.

The students answered a variety of geographic questions, such as “Which state is known as the Peach State because peaches are one of its major crops: Hawaii or Georgia?”

The fourth-grade competitors for the bee were Weston Slonaker and Nick McAllister. Clint Lien and Titan Inman represented the fifth graders and Sydney Viegut and Maddy Grieco were the contestants from sixth grade. Katelyn Christensen and Darien Cremer were the challengers from seventh grade and Jesse Uski and Octavian McDougall were the eighth-grade contenders. Jesse Uski, the winner, will now take a written examination to determine if he can advance to the state competition, which will be held in Billings March 31.

All school champions are eligible to win the national championship and its first place prize, a $50,000 scholarship.