Alam, Crisostomo top CNMI Geography Bee

Masrur S. Alam and Craig Crisostomo were named champions of the CNMI-wide Geography Bee challenge conducted by the Public School System.

The two will compete against Geography Bee winners from Guam and American Samoa in the regional competition set for March 30.

Alam and Crisostomo were both Geography Bee champions in their schools, which entitled them to compete in the CNMI-wide challenge last January. If victorious in the regional tilt, one of them will fly to Washington, D.C. to vie for the national title.

Alam is an eighth grader from Hopwood Junior High School and the son of Manzurul and Touhida Alam. He topped the school-level geography bee where he bested 30 other contenders.

In a visit to his school yesterday, Alam told Saipan Tribune that he’s excited for the upcoming regional contest where he will be given a written examination from the National Geography Society at the PSS central office.

In preparation for the competition, Alam said he will continue his self-study and devote more time in researching and reading related materials that will aid him in the upcoming contest.

Early this month, Alam was also recognized as the second top speller in the Scripps Spelling Bee in Guam. The 11-year-old student is also an active participant of mathcourt and matholympiad at his school.

This year marks Alam’s fourth time in Geography Bee but the first time to actually bag the top award in the CNMI-wide contest. He started joining the Geography Bee competition when he was in fourth grade.

“This is my first time to win the Geography Bee in the CNMI and it really feels great because I was adjudged one of the bests on the island and may get the chance to go to Washington, D.C. for the national [event],” he told Saipan Tribune yesterday, adding that if lucky, this will be his first-ever experience in the national competition.

Hopwood Junior High vice principal John Magofna Pialur is proud of Alam’s achievement and reaffirmed the school’s full support.

“We wish him the best of luck [in the Geography Bee regional] and we will always be here for support. He did a lot of hard work and we’re pretty sure he will be successful and will make us proud again,” he told Saipan Tribune.

Craig Crisostomo, meantime, is the son of Gerald and Ann Marie Crisostomo. The fifth grader topped the school level competition at Tinian Elementary last January.

According to TES principal Dionne Santos, the school is proud of Crisostomo for his outstanding achievement.

“This is Craig’s second consecutive win of the school-level Geography Bee. He is a shining example and model of determination and perseverance. Coming from a tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the outstanding achievements of our students magnify our place on the map and in the world. We wish Craig the best of luck in the state competition and hope that he will represent our islands in the nationals,” Santos said yesterday.

Saipan Tribune learned that Crisostomo has not only participated in the Geography Bee this year, but has represented his grade-level in the mathcourt competition and secured a slot in the regional competition, placing second in his category. Yesterday, the fifth grader was still off-island competing in the Chamorro Language Competition in Guam.

According to Fasefulu Tigilau, PSS coordinator for the social studies program, Alam and Crisostomo will be given written examination simultaneously on March 30.

Tigilau will oversee Alam on Saipan while Crisostomo will be supervised by another coordinator on Tinian.

Result of the regional examination is expected to be released after two weeks. The national geography bee is slated on May 22-24 in Washington, D.C. Alam and Crisostomo were named CNMI winners last March 1 when the national organizer released the result of their written tests. Geography Bee is conducted among 4th to 8th graders in public and private schools.