Champion. C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N. Khloe Smith, a sixth grader from South Middle School, has taken the top spot in the Monongalia County Schools Spelling Bee.
The bee featured 16 students who were the winning spellers from each of the county’s elementary and middle schools. The competition was held at the Monongalia County Board of Education annex on South High Street in Morgantown on Wednesday afternoon. Due to COVID, the audience was limited to one parent or guardian per participant.
Smith spelled “Bloomsbury” to win the county competition and will now move on to participate in the regionals, where she will have a chance for a seat on the big stage at the Scripp’s National Spelling Bee on June 2.
“I’m really excited because I studied the whole break,” Smith said after being declared the winner. She also said she is excited for the regional competition, but is going to make sure to put in more practice beforehand.
Smith’s advice for future spellers? “Make sure you study and if you don’t win it’s OK because you still made it where you were.”
Smith’s 15 competitors did not make it an easy victory, successfully spelling words like fetlocks, larkspur, mortification, quatrains and primordial. But after five rounds of words, it came down to just two.
Alexandra Castillo, a fifth grader from Ridgedale Elementary, became the runner-up after misspelling Albion and will serve as a replacement for the regional competition should Smith not be able to attend.
Winners from other schools who participated include fifth graders Brooklyn Ashe – Brookhaven Elementary, Leila Strauss – Cheat Lake Elementary, Eli Dulaney – Eastwood Elementary, Cooper Bear Clovis – Mason Dixon Elementary, Charlotte Stephens – Mountainview Elementary, Isaac Mayfield – Mylan Park Elementary, Corinne Micucci – North Elementary, Ethan Drvar – Skyview Elementary, and Francisco Timmons – Suncrest Elementary.
Natalia Cassim, the only seventh grader, represented St. Francis. Eighth grade winners included Chase McClure – Clay-Battelle Middle/High School, Julia Watson – Mountaineer Middle, Anika Chadha – Suncrest Middle, and Brayden Brock – Westwood Middle.
Monongalia County Schools Superintendent Dr. Eddie Campbell awarded each participant with a yellow ribbon and congratulated them for being the winner of their individual schools along with presenting a trophy to Smith for first place.
The Scripp’s National Spelling Bee will be hosted this year by actor and children’s literacy advocate LeVar Burton. The event will be nationally televised from Washington, D.C., on the ION and Bounce networks for the semi-final rounds on June 1 and the finals on June 2.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the nation’s largest and longest-running educational program, having launched in 1925. The organization says the purpose of spelling bees is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives.
