CULLMAN – The 91st annual Cullman County Spelling Bee was held at Temple Baptist Church Monday evening, and Jadon Li, a seventh grader from Cullman Middle School, took the top prize. Li will represent Cullman County at the state spelling bee on March 11 in Alabaster. The event was open to local contest winners from city and county schools, as well as area private schools.
Competition went through three rounds of spelling and vocabulary, and got off to a fast start; seven contestants went out in the first spelling round, with three more leaving in the first vocabulary round. By the end of the second spelling and vocabulary rounds, fewer than half the contestants remained.
Students who advanced to later rounds were Brady Cleek, Jake Gandy, Jessie Godbee, Nolan Kelly, Chloe Lambert, Ava Lewis, Jadon Li, Christopher Posey and Ella Stephenson.
When the number of contestants reached five at the end of the third round, they moved to spelling only. The final five:
- Abigail Kusz, Holly Pond Middle School
- Chloe Lambert, Sacred Heart School
- Ava Lewis, Vinemont Middle School
- Jadon Li, Cullman Middle School
- Ella Stephenson, Cold Springs Elementary School
After several more rounds, including multiple rounds with none missed, the contest was down to Li and Kusz. After Kusz missed "Pampas," Li correctly spelled "wiseacre" to set himself up for the championship word "clapboard," which he correctly spelled.
Li was presented his championship trophy by Cullman County Schools Superintendent Shane Barnette and Cullman City Schools Superintendent Dr. Susan Patterson.
Up next for Jadon Li:
Alabama State Spelling Bee
Saturday, March 11, 2017, starting at noon
Alabaster First United Methodist Church in Alabaster
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