French International School Students Shine at History Bee Regionals
April 27, 2016
Four students at the French International School of Philadelphia have qualified for the National Finals round of the National History Bee, a social studies competition for Elementary School and Middle School students. Alexandros Pratsos (Grade 5), Jérôme Gantz (Grade 6), Max Oltmanns (Grade 6), and Marielle Buxbaum (Grade 8) will each have the opportunity to compete for the prestigious title of “National History Bee Champion” in their respective divisions. A delegation of nine French International School students (including Robert Murray, Aruna Balasubramanian, Alexandra Duranton, Kiefer Wood-Barreno, and Ravi Balasubramanian, in addition to the four already mentioned) attended the Philadelphia Regional Finals round of the Bee on April 27 at Friends’ Central School, after earning high scores on a preliminary online qualifying test. Pratsos, Gantz, Oltmanns, and Buxbaum’s top performances at the regional-level buzzer competition earned them their spots for the National Finals, which will take place June 9-12 in Chicago, Illinois. The National History Bee organization collaborates with the National Council for the Social Studies to craft questions focused on having students apply the skills and concepts that they have learned in the classroom. The four finalists are sponsored by Mr. Fabrice Paradis-Béland, their Social Studies teacher at the French International School, where students study the subject from both an American and a French perspective.
The French International School of Philadelphia is an independent pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania serving a multicultural community and providing a comprehensive bilingual curriculum in French and in English.