Mars Area eighth-grader Cole Winstead earned first place in the 2018-2019 Mars Area Geography Bee Final Round Qualifier, held Dec. 7 at Mars Area Centennial School.

Seventh-grader Tyler Raabe took second and seventh-grader Mohamed Dheen received third place. Other participants were eighth-graders Kade Richardson, Danielle Snyman, Ryan Steigerwald and John Sutton; seventh-graders Declan Abbey and Joseph Compton; and sixth-grader Landon Kay.

Winstead will now complete a written exam that will be mailed to the Pennsylvania State Geography Bee, which will notify the student as to whether he or she has qualified for the state contest. The state winner will then advance to the National Geography Bee competition, to be held May 19-22, at The National Geographic Society headquarters (Washington, D.C.).

Prior to the Final Round Qualifier, all students in Grades 5-8 completed a 50-question, written geography exam based on the physical and cultural geography of both the United States and the world during their social studies classes. The top 50 students who missed no more than eight questions then took a second round exam and those students who missed no more than eight questions advanced to the final round on Dec. 7. 

For more information, visit www.nationalgeographic.org/bee.