Seventh Graders End Up On Top Of The World

By Larissa Lytwyn

Newtown Middle School seventh grader and school Geography Bee champion Anthony Fragoso did not win by poring over almanacs for hours at a time after school.

The strong student says that by just “reading and watching television,” culling an awareness of the world around him, he was able to do well.

Anthony also finished first place last year, as a sixth grader at Reed Intermediate School.

He will continue to compete in the townwide and potentially state and national Geography Bee.

“My goal is just to go as far as I can,” he said.

Last year he made it to the state finals.

The middle school’s Geography Bee questions centered largely on the locations and related statistical information of city capitols worldwide, said Newtown Middle School Social Studies teacher Andrew San Angelo.

“Some of the questions were quite difficult,” Mr San Angelo noted. “It was amazing to see how calm [Anthony] stayed.”

The world of geography and spelling bee competitions has garnered greater national attention in recent months with the success of last year’s documentary, Spellbound.

The film allowed audiences to attain a better sense of the immense devotion, and pressure, such academic endeavors can incite. Like Anthony, many of the participants shown stayed cool under fire.

For more information on the National Geographic Bee, visit www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/