Top School District Spellers To Advance to Regional Bee

District spelling bee finalists from the February 12 competition among St. Ignace, Mackinac Island, Gros Cap, and Engadine schools are (back, from left) Anthony Rickley of Mackinac Island, Cody Swagger of Gros Cap, Raleigh Harrington of St. Ignace, Michaela Cope of Gros Cap; (front) Lou Clark of Mackinac Island, Molly Paquin of St. Ignace, Jacob Sjogren of St. Ignace, and Brooke Livermore of Engadine. They will compete against winners of other districts in a regional spelling bee in Sault Ste. Marie Thursday, February 22.

Decadent, catalyst, stratification, escalate, bodacious, garrison, and diaphragm are some of the words local students spelled correctly to advance to the Regional Spelling Bee in Sault Ste. Marie Thursday, February 22, at 3:30 p.m.

The bee will bring together all Eastern Upper Peninsula students who qualified for the regional competition. Winners who emerge from this contest will advance to the Upper Peninsula finals, and possibly the national spelling bee in Washington, D.C. Two students representing each grade of fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth, were the finalists in each district, and will meet the finalists from the other districts in the regional competition.

Consolidated Community Schools Services District Spelling Bee finalists after the February 1 bee include (from left) Nicole Chesebro of Brimley, Meagan Mongene of Brimley, Devin Livingston of DeTour, Kelsey Bland of Brimley, Sarah Donnally of Brimley, Lacey Nettleton of Pickford, Alec Firack of Pickford, and Maddy Cardwell of Les Cheneaux. (Photograph by Kate Ter Haar, Les Cheneaux Community Schools)

Following spelling bees at each school in the Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District, three district bees narrowed winners down in January and February.

Seven To Compete

From Rudyard Area Schools

Rudyard Area Schools will send seven students to the regional bee, following the January 30 district competition in Sault Ste. Marie against students from St. Mary's and JKL Bahweting schools in Sault Ste. Marie. Jamie Royer from Rudyard's Turner Howson Elementary took first place in the fifth grade district competition, earning the right to advance to regionals.

Rudyard Middle School students swept the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade competitions, and are all eligible to compete in the regionals. Megan Trotter took first and Ashlee Bonnee took second in the sixth grade competition. Carrie Berkompas took first and Tyler Wilson took second in the seventh grade contest. Logan McMillan took first and Sidney VanAlstine took second for the eighth grade.

Brimley, DeTour,

Les Cheneaux, Pickford

School District Winners

The Consolidated Community Schools Services district spelling bee for students from the Brimley, DeTour, Les Cheneaux, and Pickford schools districts was Thursday, February 1, in Pickford, and the following students will advance to regional competition, listed by grade, name, their finishing place, and school district:

Fifth grade: Alec Firack, first place, Pickford; Maddy Cardwell, second place, Les Cheneaux Elementary.

Sixth grade: Sarah Donnally, first place, Brimley; Devin Livingston, second place, DeTour Area Schools.

Seventh grade: Kelsey Bland, first place, Brimley; Lacey Nettleton, second place, Pickford.

Eighth grade: Nicole Chesebro, first place, Brimley; Meagan Mongene, second place, Brimley.

Winners for St. Ignace,

Engadine, Mackinac Island,

Gros Cap

The Straits Area District Spelling Bee for competitors from Engadine, Mackinac Island, Moran Township (Gros Cap), and St. Ignace Area schools was Monday, February 12, and produced another eight competitors for the regional bee. Students who will advance are listed by grade, name, finishing place, and school district.

Fifth grade: Brooke Livermore, first place, Engadine Consolidated Schools; Jacob Sjogren, second place, St. Ignace Area Schools.

Sixth grade: Lou Clark, first place, Mackinac Island; Molly Paquin, second place, St. Ignace.

Seventh grade: Anthony Rickley, first place, Mackinac Island Public Schools; Michaela Cope, second place, Gros Cap School.

Eighth grade: Raleigh Harrington, first place, St. Ignace; Cody Swagger, second place, Gros Cap School.

Participants Earn Ribbons

in All Districts Rudyard: Rudyard students who participated in the January 30 bee include fifth grade students Helena Neal and William VanWallis of R.J. Wallis Elementary, Jamie Royer, Catie Kirk, and Breanna Nurmi of Turner-Howson; sixth grade students Ashlee Bonnee, Megan Trotter, Leah Jarvie, and Katrina Hoolsema; seventh grade students Carrie Berkompas, Tyler Wilson, Alex Schrovenwever, and eighth grade students Hiedi Gielda,Logan McMillan, Sidney VanAlstine, and Amanda Baldwin, and Matt Rickley.

CCSS: Students who participated in the February 2 CCSS bee include fifth grade students Albert LeBlanc and Caleb McKerchie from Brimley, Laci Smith and Emily Bosley from DeTour, Maddy Cardwell and Max Madigan from Les Cheneaux, and Alec Firack and Blake Mastaw from Pickford; Jeremy Teeple and Sarah Donnally of Brimley, Devin Livingston and Stephen Pack of DeTour, Jenny Strait and Bethany Schlosser of Les Cheneaux, and Danny Babinsky and Danielle Petingalo of Pickford; seventh grade students Kelsy Bland and Ben Bryer of Brimley, Sam Peterson and Kyle Kostoff of DeTour, Kharizma Labinski and Brittany Smith of Les Cheneaux, and Dylan Parr and Lacey Nettleton of Pickford, and eighth grade students Meagan Mongene and Nicole Chesebro of Brimley, Bailey Miller and Kristen Johnson of DeTour, Jenna Arnold and Ian McGreevy of Les Cheneaux, and Courtney Wheiman and Jason Spencer of Pickford.

Straits Area: Straits area students who participated in the February 12 bee include fifth grade students Brooke Livermore and Brittany Flatt of Engadine, Amelia Roe and Adrienne Rilenge of Mackinac Island, Clayton Knutsen and Bekka Litzner of Moran Township's Gros Cap School, and Jacob Sjogren and Andrew Sjogren of St. Ignace; sixth grade students Dylan Formolo and Brittany Perrault of Engadine, Lou Clark and Leo Horn of Mackinac Island, Galloway Thurston and Haillee Becker of Moran Township, and Molly Paquin and Sarah Cullip of St. Ignace; seventh grade students Michael Ramelis and Amanda Shoemaker of Engadine, Anthony Rickley and Caleb Kolatski of Mackinac Island, Louis Radecki and Michaela Cope of Moran Township, and Kelsey Closs and Ben Idalski of St. Ignace, and eighth grade students David Winchester and Luke Smith of Engadine, Morgan Brodeur- Bunker and Maggie Chambers of Mackinac Island, Cody Swagger and Luke Thurston of Moran Township, and Heather Beaudoin and Raleigh Harrington of St. Ignace.