Allamuchy Township School student is one of New Jersey’s top 10 spellers

Allamuchy Township School 8th grader Chris Rickey, in his third trip to the New Jersey State Geography Bee, placed ninth out of over 100 state finalists in April.

Held for the first time at Rowan University in Glassboro, the 2010 National Geographic Bee for the State of New Jersey saw 103 fourth through eighth graders from public, private and parochial schools in New Jersey competing for the chance to be the state winner and head to the national finals.

Emerging from the preliminary rounds with a perfect score, Chris qualified for the final round of 10 students. He ultimately placed 9th out of all competitors at the State Bee.

“It was a great showing amidst extremely tough competition,” commented librarian Suzanne Chamberlin, who accompanied Chris to the competition on behalf of the school. “Chris has had an amazing run during his five years of eligibility for the Geo Bee. We are unlikely to see a four-time school winner, three-time state bee qualifier and two-time state bee final round qualifier again any time soon.”

Dr. Timothy Frederiks, superintendent of the Allamuchy Township School District, commented, “The entire Allamuchy community is very proud of Chris’ accomplishments in this prestigious competition. He has a special gift of knowledge and recall in the area of geography and he has certainly put Allamuchy on the map!”