What is the most populous city in Hispaniola? If you answered Santo Domingo, then you might have what it takes to successfully compete at the state-level competition for the National Geographic geography bee. Aadith Moorthy, an eighth-grader at Palm Harbor Middle School, won the state competition last year when he successfully answered that final question, and  West Shore eighth-grader Melanie Richardson hopes to follow in his footsteps after recently winning the school-level competition.

“It was just the luck of the draw. I sort of guessed on most of the questions,” Richardson said.

The bee contains questions involving maps, trivia and world events,  which will only get more difficult if Richardson moves on to the state-level test.

“[Melanie’s] test has been sent to Washington D.C. to be graded, and if she qualifies, she will move on to state-level,” social studies teacher Brook Owen-Thomas said.

Results from Washington will be sent to the school in March. The state-level bee will be held on April 1 and the national finals will take place May 24-25.

By Sarah Kinsey