SHILOH — Dylan Ruppert, an 8th grade student at North Dorchester Middle School, won the school-level competition of the National Geographic Bee on Jan. 22. The school-level Bee, in which students answered oral questions on geography, was the first round of the 30th annual National Geographic Bee.

School winners, including Dylan, will now take a written test; up to 100 of the top scorers on that test will compete in the Maryland State Bee in April.
Seventh grader Sydney Santos won second place and Ryan Clark, also in 7th grade, placed third.

Sixth grade finalists in the contest were Christian Gorsuch, Adam Elzey and Andrew Albert. Ryan Clark, Nick Kujat, and Sydney Santos were the 7th grade finalists and Ian Hallbauer was an 8th grade finalist, along with winner Dylan.

Every student at NDMS participated in the preliminary round of the school’s Bee, competing for the eight finalist spots from which the winner was drawn. This is the ninth year the school’s social studies department has had students competing in the National Geographic Bee, which offers competitors the chance of a $50,000 college scholarship.

This year’s NDMS host was Crystal Drexel, 7th and 8th grade social studies teacher.