On February 26, students from Pawnee City compete in the County Spelling Bee in Lewiston. Tiffany Sampont competed in the 7/8th grade division; Taytem Simon competed in the 6th; Ella Wernimont and Aubree Marr in the 5th; Silas Bloss, Layla Cumley, and Lelan Leitschuck competed in the 4th; Alora Spier, Layney Theasmeyer, and Luke Heidemann competed in the 3rd division. Taytem Simon won his division, and out of all the 3rd and 4th grade students competing, Silas Bloss received second place and Layla Cumley received third place.
When asked about the spelling bee, Miss Aeden Gyhra replied, “The Pawnee City contestants were excited to be competing and were extremely polite to the Lewiston hosts. They represented Pawnee City very well. To study, the students are given an official packet of words that they can use to study about three weeks in advance of the competition. This helps them familiarize themselves with the difficulty and variety of words they could be given. Mostly, they use those lists to study on their own time.
Each grade has a different selection process for students. My process for fourth-grade students is to first ask which students are interested. Then, I pick random words on the official list, varying in difficulty, and have them spell them on paper like a normal spelling test. I gave them a total of 20 words. After that, the papers are checked for accuracy and the top three scorers are selected to participate, with the fourth top scorer becoming the alternate.”
Congratulations to all who placed!
