First and second place spellers receive their trophies Tuesday, March 2, after competing in the Upper Peninsula Education Association Regional Spelling Bee at St. Ignace Middle School. Pictured are runners-up (from left) Abby Berkompas of Rudyard in eighth grade, Gannon Jahnke of Brimley in seventh grade, Taylor Kalchik of Sault Ste. Marie in sixth grade, Ben Reattoir of Sault Ste. Marie in fifth grade; first place winners Savannah Seccia of Gros Cap in eighth grade, Margo Brown of St. Ignace in seventh grade, Matt Gratowski of DeTour in sixth grade, and Ryley Alaspa of Sault Ste. Marie in fifth grade. First place winners and runners-up from the regional competition will all advance to the U.P. Spelling Bee Finals in Iron Mountain March 17. The EUP Regional Spelling Bee took place Tuesday, March 2, at St. Ignace Middle School with 14 schools from the Eastern Upper Peninsula participating.

Top spellers in grades five through eight competed for the chance to go on to the Upper Peninsula Finals. Results follow:

Fifth grade: Ryley Alaspa and Ben Reattoir of Sault Ste. Marie were the top two spellers. Others competing were Courtney Arbic of JKL Bahweting, Caitlin LeBlanc of Brimley, Madison Wilkie of DeTour, Eryn Corinth of Newberry, Jillian Tunks of Paradise, Lexi Bootz of Rudyard, and Garrett Horn and Melissa Worden of St. Ignace.

Sixth grade: Matt Gratowski of DeTour took first place and Taylor Kalchik of Sault Ste. Marie took second place. Others competing were Madison Fairbanks of JKL Bahweting, Bradley Maison of Engadine, Mitchell Wilson of Newberry, Mary Tinker of Paradise, Amy Lehigh of Pickford, Trevor Headley of Rudyard, Kenneth Stewart of Sault Ste. Marie, and Erin Bunker of St. Ignace.

Seventh grade: Margo Brown of St. Ignace took first place and Gannon Jahnke of Brimley took second place. Others competing were Maddie Kohlmann of Cedarville, Kyle Shunk of Mackinac Island, Hunter Buckingham, Autumn Hall of Paradise, Tanner Bradley of Rudyard, Elizabeth Benoit and Ethan Twardy of Sault Ste. Marie, and Lauren Ramer of St. Mary’s.

Eighth grade: Savannah Seccia of Gros Cap School took first place and Abby Berkompas of Rudyard took second place. Others competing were Neal Mannisto of JKL Bahweting, Marianne Keim of Brimley, Holly Lysinger of Cedarville, Shaena Blakely and KC Ketcher of Newberry, Nick Chevillot and Shelby Mackie of Sault Ste. Marie, and Andrew Sjogren of St. Ignace.

First place winners and runners up from the regional competition will all advance to the U.P. Spelling Bee Finals March 17.