After testing his depth and breadth of knowledge at the regional National History Bee held recently in Bridgeport, Jackson Meisner of Deep River will advance to the National History Bee Championships in Louisville, Kentucky, from May 22 to May 24. Meisner, along with three other students from the Independent Day School in Middlefield, scored high enough to advance to the National Competition. Additionally, Meisner competed in two Championship Rounds at the Regional Finals and was declared the 2015 Bridgeport Regional Elementary Champion. Questions were based on world history and ranged from knowing which Great Awakening preacher wrote “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” to knowing what term is used for Spanish explorers such as Francisco Pizarro, who colonized much of the New World in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The National History Bee is a competition for elementary and middle school students that tests a child’s knowledge across a broad spectrum of historical figures, eras, and events. The History Bee is structured into three components. Stage 1 is an optional Intramural Bee and a mandatory Online Regional Qualifying Exam which students take at school or home, under the supervision of a sponsor. In Stage 2 the top students from the ORQE travel to one of the 35 buzzer competitions across the United States called the Regional Finals. In Stage 3, the top finishers from the Regional Finals are eligible to advance to the National Finals and compete for the title of National History Bee Champion.