Each year, thousands of schools in the United States participate in the National Geographic Bee using materials prepared by the National Geographic Society. All four elementary schools in the Clarence Central School District held their own school-level geography bees this past month.

Students in grades four and five tested their knowledge about the world around them with questions such as “What is the longest river in New England that shares its name with the state it flows through?” and “what Asian country bordered on the west by the South China Sea includes more than 7,100 islands?”

Taking the top spot at Clarence Center was James Galligan; Sam Zyla finished second, and River Reinhardt finished third. At Harris Hill, Brady Carlson took first place, Mason Graham was second and Jessica Fitch was third. Mili Brahmabhatt was named Ledgeview School champion, Patrick Weisinger was second and Quinn Laczkowski was third. First-place finisher at Sheridan Hill was Matthew Cummings; Akilesh Ramakrishna was second, and Hamzah Ahmed was third.

The answers to the aforementioned questions are the Connecticut River and the Philippines.