Hermann to compete at Maine Geographic Bee

By Karen Donato
Staff Writer
    Daniel Hermann, son of Mark and Lisa Hermann of Houlton and a sixth-grade student at Southside School will represent Houlton at the 2009 Maine Geographic Bee.
HERMANN EXCELS — Daniel Hermann excels in geography. He is sharing some of his knowledge with Southside Principal Jason Tarr.
   The competition will be held at the Abromson Community Education Center at the University of Southern Maine on Friday, April 3.
    Hermann won an earlier local bee to enter the regional division. This competition required a written qualifying test, which was submitted to the National Geographic Society. Students in each of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense dependents schools and the United States territories were eligible to enter. The Society invited the students with the top 100 scores to compete at the state level.
    This is the second time that Hermann has qualified for the competition. Daniel said that he likes to practice with questions that he gets online and that he loves to use the computer.
    “I had a great time in Portland last year. My mom went with me and the kids at school made a big sign that said, ‘Good Luck, Daniel’.”
    “We toured the city and the ‘Old Port’. I liked that a lot,” he said.
    Beth Ludwig, Daniel’s teacher said, “Daniel has an exceptional command of geography. He is the only student in Southside’s history who has qualified for the state bee twice. Since the bee is for students from grades four to eight, it is rare for a fifth-or sixth-grader to score in the top 100 for the state.  He is to be commended for his note-worthy performance.”