Mission Estancia students Stuart Brow, left, and Jill Green, along with Mike Kertis and Noah Spero, far right, play Speed Map, a game that tests how fast the students can put together a United States puzzle.

CARLSBAD - While most of the students at Mission Estancia Elementary School in Carlsbad run off to play after school, more than 30 students ranging from third to sixth grade stay behind to study subjects such as how to use geography to interpret the past - for fun.

On Wednesday, these students who have been memorizing everything from the capitol of Burma to the meaning of ethnic enclaves will be competing with students from more than 50 schools from throughout San Diego County in the 7th Annual Geography Olympiad, held at Grossmont Junior College. "This is the second year that we've competed in this face-to- face competition" said teacher Arlene Skoor. "The children spend all day competing in events from reading time zones to reading a map of different way for the children to learn about geography," she said. "And the community involvement has just been wonderful. Everyone from the Map store in Carlsbad to people on the Internet have joined in to help. The kids are really excited and it teaches them about competition."

As the classroom buzzed with excitement on Monday, children were crowded at tables covered in maps and encyclopedias. Globes were spinning and the children played games with a giant brightly colored foam map of the United States that took up a large portion of the floor. The students have high hopes for this year's contest and hope that their hard work will earn them a trophy or two.

"This is the second time I've done this and I really like it," said Ryan Mitchell, 9. "I like the fast way your mind has to move and I especially like geography," said Cassie Bushong, 9, who thinks that the eight weeks of studying after school will pay off. "I’ve learned a lot of new vocabulary words and it's fun to try new things," she said. "Now when I grow up and people talk about some place, like on the news, I'll know what they're talking about."