04/02/2014 -
The Sonoma County Office of Education held its annual countywide spelling competitions this week. Awards were given to the top four spellers in both the elementary and junior high events.
Elementary Spelling Competition: Fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade spellers competed in the annual Elementary Spelling Competition on March 31. The 20 participating students had previously won school and regional spelling bees, which made them eligible to compete for the title of county spelling champion.
Kira Kelley, a sixth-grader from Hillcrest Middle School in Sebastopol, won first in the competition. She broke the tie in the eighth round by spelling “oscillate” correctly, then spelling “scrupulous” to win the event.
Second place went to sixth-grader Madeleine Dibene, who attends Jack London School in Santa Rosa. Fifth-grader Stephen Rakoski, from Brooks Elementary School in Windsor. took third place and Alessi Beeson, a sixth-grader from Alexander Valley School in Healdsburg, earned the fourth-place award.
Junior High Spelling Competition: Thirty-six students competed in the 2014 Sonoma County Junior High Spelling Competition on April 1. These grade 7-9 students had previously won school-level spelling bees to qualify for the countywide competition.
Brian Hanaway, an eighth-grader from Hillcrest Middle School in Sebastopol, won the competition. He broke the tie in the tenth round by spelling “laryngitis” correctly, then spelling “anonymous” to win the event.
Second place went to Khyren Cox, an eighth-grader at Altimira Middle School in Sonoma. Seventh-grader Henry Nicholson, from Mary Collins at Cherry Valley Charter School in Petaluma, took third place and Zach Hejl, an eighth-grader from Herbert Slater Middle School in Santa Rosa, earned the fourth-place award.
Advancing to the State Championships: The top two spellers in each competition are eligible to advance to the statewide championship for their grade level. The 2014 California State Elementary Spelling Championship will be held on April 26 in Stockton and the 2014 California State Junior High Spelling Championship will take place in San Rafael on May 3.
