Christa Holley’s third grade class at SES has been learning about the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

“The Winter Olympics are one of my favorite things to watch, so I figured the kids would like to learn about them,” Holley said.

Each student in the class has his or her own decorated folder that holds information about the Winter Olympics that they get to study for the entire time the games are held.

“We learned about the different countries that are in the games,” Adelaide Dunn said. “Every morning we also get to see which countries have the most medals. Right now Norway has the most medals, but Germany has the most gold medals.”

The Winter Olympics will have at least 93 countries competing. Twelve countries have sent athletes to every Winter Olympic games: Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. Only the United States has earned a gold at each of the games.

Gentry Powell said that they not only learn about the Olympics going on right now, but also have learned about the history of the games and how they came to be as big as they are now.

“The ancient Olympic games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years in honor of Zeus in Greece,” Powell said.

When asked what her favorite parts of the Winter Olympics are, Blakeley Smith said, “I really like snowboarding. Shaun White and Chloe Kim are my favorite snowboarders. Chloe Kim is the youngest woman ever to score a 93 for snowboarding and she is only 17.”

Some famous athletes at the 2018 Winter Games include, snowboarders Shaun White and Chloe Kim, freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, slalom alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin and figure skating veteran Adam Rippon.

“I honestly believe that it is important for the kids to learn about the Olympics at this age, because it teaches equality and perseverance.” Holley said.