All Saints student William Dennis Jones Jr. won the Virgin Island Geography Bee on Friday, taking the 1999 title in a last-minute, tie-breaking battle against Hannah Schafer of V.I. Montessori School.
Twenty-seven students from public and private schools competed for the chance to represent the Virgin Islands at the National
Georgraphy Bee in Washington, D.C., in late May.
The Bee was developed by the National Geographic Society in an effort to improve knowledge of geography in American classrooms. The effort started in 1985 when the society launched a comprehensive campaign to improve the teaching methodology and to elevate the status of geography in curricula, according to the National Dennis received an atlas and a check for $100 for his own use and another $100 to buy gifts to take to other competitors at the national competition.
The winner of the national bee will receive a $25,000 college scholarship. In addition this year's winner will receive a special prize awarded by Bank One, the competition's corporate sponsor: a trip with his or her family to Sydney, Australia, for seven days. The prize includes transportation, lodging, meals and sightseeing.
Dennis’s win scored the second honor for All Saints in as many weeks. The All Saints Quiz Bowl team brought the school into the academic limelight when it won the Quiz Bowl for the third year in a row on March 30.