Jeff Yoder and Julian Phillips-Kanagy won the school-level Geo Bee and Spelling Bee respectively.

Yoder, an eighth-grader from Pleasant View Mennonite Church, won the first round of the National Geographic Society's competition and then qualified for the April 4 state-level competition in Indianapolis by passing a written test. Classmate Maggie Yoder was the runner-up. Others making the final round of the school-level bee were sixth grader Brooke Hershberger,seventh graders Sadie Gustafson-Zook and Amber Heydon, and eighth graders Gina Gautsche, Malaina Weldy, Jared Miller, and Sarah Brew. If you would like to try some sample questions go to www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee.

Seventh grader Julian Phillips-Kanagy of College Mennonite Church won the school-level spelling bee and finished third in the Elkhart County Spelling Bee on Tueday, Feb. 5. Julian, who was runner-up last year, defeated classmate Lucas Morgan, who was last year's school champion. Julian won by correctly spelling cynical and then discipline.