The Woodland Joint Unified School District held its annual Geography Bee at Pioneer High School late last month.

According to a district press release, the Geography Bee or GeoBee, which took place on Wednesday, Feb. 22, is a geography competition for Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) students in which contestants have 15 seconds to answer questions about U.S. states, the world, landmarks, regions, animals and a variety of other fun facts.

This year’s winners are Michael Nichols, a sixth grade student from Spring Lake Elementary who came in third place, Charlotte Banuelos, a sixth grade student out of Sci-Tech Elementary School who finished in second place and Cash Foldhazi, an eight grader attending Lee Middle School who came in first place. The judges were Hayden Krause, Bob Folker, and Dennis Silva, with Scott Clary serving as the host.

Last year, the same three students finished in the top three as well.

Fifty students from across the district attended Geography Bee prep classes for four weeks leading up to the event, and 28 students participated in the competition. Parents, teachers, and community members also attended to cheer on participants.

“I love watching our kids compete in the Geography Bee,” stated Pat Welty, a Woodland School District teacher. “Seeing them onstage, with the microphone in their hand, and everyone staring at them, just proves how brave they are. I am so proud of them just for showing up. The questions get more challenging with each round. I don’t even know all of the answers. I love to cheer them on. It’s rewarding to see the families there supporting the program. Seeing kids come back each year, knowing what it is like, just proves how much they crave learning more and showing everyone that they are here to win.”

WJUSD GATE staff DeAnn Tenhunfeld, April Gusé, and Heidi Rasmussen organized this year’s event. In addition, Cindy Moore, a retired Pioneer High School teacher, helped run the lights and sound for the event.