Iona Grammar School Students Places First in Geography Bee

Lars Schonander, an eighth-grader from Iona Grammar School in New Rochelle, won state Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer’s second annual Geography Bee for local eighth-graders earlier this month.

The event, which took place on April 16 at Iona Grammar School, featured students from Blind Brook Middle School in Rye Brook and both the Rye County Day School and Rye Middle School in Rye, along with Iona Grammar School.

Schonander emerged victorious in the geography bee, defeation fellow Iona classmates Thibault Forgeas and Stefan Lindblom, Rye Brook’s Sam Zarkower, Rye Country Day’s Daniel Kozek and Rye Middle School eighth grader, Mihir Bala.

Oppenheimer, who moderated the competition, remarked:  “These bright and engaging students are a tribute to their parents, teachers and schools,” said Oppenheimer, who moderated the event. “Their vast knowledge of geography will serve them well in our increasingly interdependent world. Through the study of geography, they learn to look beyond their own communities and “comfort zones” to embrace the many different cultures, peoples and landscapes they will encounter across the globe.”