Amherst recently held its Geography and Spelling Bees yielding several honors, including a chance to compete at the state level.

The fourth- and fifth-grade group and the sixth- through eighth-grade group each held their respective Geography Bee on Dec. 16, in the Amherst High School Library. The contest is sponsored by the National Geographic Society and tests students’ knowledge of geographic locations.

First-place winners from the contest took a written test to qualify for the State Geography Bee; they will learn in March whether they qualify to compete at the state level in Madison.

Eighth-grader Megan Wolf won the sixth- through eighth-grade Geography Bee, Jacob Spoelstra received second place, while Tuvshin Anderson took third place.

The fourth- and fifth-grade competition was won by fifth-grader Alex Glodowski while Max Voss took second and Becca Borchert took third.

The National Geographic Society will provide an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for the state champions and teacher escorts to participate in the national championship in May. The first-place winner will receive a $25,000 college scholarship and a lifetime membership to the Society.

The Tomorrow River School District held its 41st Annual School Spelling Bees in late January.

To prepare for the two contests, fourth- and fifth-graders participated in classroom spelling bees. The top spellers in each class then earned positions in the Fourth- and Fifth-Grade Spelling Bee.

On Jan. 13, there were 19 students who participated in the fourth- and fifth-grade Spelling Bee. Participants included: Ben Oksuita, Jayce Oksuita, Kenny Collins, Annie Johnson, AJ McDonald, Mara Raddatz, Zoey Skupien, Ben Kisting, Michael Benjamin, Trace Rondeau, Ashton Goretski, Ephraim Anglemyer, Max Voss, Rhett Loken, Noah Spoelstra, Kayla Cullen, Mylee Filtz and Trent Simonis.

The winners of this year’s Spelling Bee were Ben Kisting (first place), Annie Johnson (second place) and Trent Simonis (third place).

As the winners, Kisting and Johnson earned an opportunity to compete in the Central Wisconsin Talented and Gifted Network Elementary Regional Spelling Bee on Feb. 7.

In order to participate in the Middle School Spelling Bee, sixth- through eighth-graders tried out on written tests. The top 14 students were then invited to participate in the Middle School Spelling Bee Jan. 13.

Participants were Dane Melby, Payton Jastromski, Anna Neuenfeldt, Marcus Borgen, Ryan Bunsen, Tucker Cory, Gabby Buckholt, Samantha Anglemyer, Alli Feist, Abby Helbach, Skylar Linde, Ava McKenzie, and Maddy Borgen. The winners of this year’s Amherst Middle School Spelling Bee were Abby Helbach (first place), Gabby Buckholt (second place) and Samantha Anglemyer (third place).

As Middle School winners, Helbach and Buckholt earned invitations to compete in the Regional Spelling Bee held in Wild Rose.