EIGHTH grader Kelly Hofschneider bested 24 other students to win Grace Christian Academy’s 
Geographic Bee.
Josiah Trinidad finished second while Richard Aldan secured third place.
GCA yesterday held the competition at its auditorium and the materials used were prepared by National Geographic.
“We’ve been doing it here for several years, but this is the third year that we actually competed with National Geographic questions,” Heather Linday, GCA Geography Bee coordinator, said.
She said they used their own questions for the elimination rounds, picking five students from each class from fourth through eighth grade.
“About a month ago they were given about 25 questions to answer,” Linday said.
Twenty-five students competed in the preliminary rounds and only 10 moved on to the next round from where the top five were chosen.
“I’m pretty happy about it and thankful,” Hofschneider said, referring her victory. “History is my favorite subject. That’s why I don’t really mind studying for Geography Bee.”
In January, Linday said, the winner of each participating school will take a test that will be sent to National Geographic.
If they score high enough, they will take a second test in April to determine who will represent the Pacific territory.
Fifty-five students will compete in the finals which will be held in May in Washington, D.C.
