Pictured is the winner of the 2017 Cullman County Spelling Bee, Cullman Middle School's Jadon Li. This year's Bee will take place on Feb. 5. / W.C. Mann
CULLMAN – On Monday, Feb. 5, Temple Baptist Church will once again host the Cullman County Spelling Bee, now in its 91st year. Though overseen by the Cullman County Board of Education (CCBOE), the tournament will also include city and private schools.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee program is open to contestants in grades three through eight, who must win local school spelling bees before going to county competitions. Winners at the county level will advance to the state spelling bee on Mar. 10 at First United Methodist Church in Alabaster, for a chance to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Maryland, near Washington D.C. on May 29-31. The overall winner of the national competition will receive a $40,000 cash prize plus a savings bond, along with reference works from Merriam-Webster and Encyclopedia Britannica.
Cullman-area schools have already held their competitions. County Coordinator Leah Sapp of the CCBOE provided a list of the winners who will compete at the county bee next month:
- Cold Springs Elementary – Reba McCarn
- Cullman Middle – Jessie Godbee
- East Elementary – Allie-Michelle Stewart
- Fairview Elementary – Nicolas Gregory
- Fairview Middle – Jackson Babb
- Good Hope Elementary – Ace Stricklin
- Good Hope Middle – Kaliana Lee
- Hanceville Elementary – Karys Henderson
- Hanceville Middle – Brady Cleek
- Harmony – Cass Baron
- Holly Pond Elementary – Darla Fredrick
- Holly Pond Middle – Abigail Kusz
- Parkside – Reagan Dunkin
- Sacred Heart – Madilyn Clair Kerber
- St. Bernard – Joey Ruse
- St. Paul’s – Carter Daily
- Vinemont Elementary – Breanna White
- Vinemont Middle – Mason Fitzgerald
- Welti Elementary – Haley Tyree
- West Elementary – Willa Smith
- West Point Elementary – Mary Beth Penn
- West Point Intermediate – Kilona McClure
- West Point Middle – Carter Duke
At a glance
91st Annual Cullman County Spelling Bee
Monday, Feb. 5, 2017 at 7 p.m.
Temple Baptist Church, 30 County Road 1184, along AL Hwy. 157, Cullman
For more information, contact Leah Sapp or Margaret Guthrie at the CCBOE office, 256-734-2933.
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