NYSSA – Over 80 students across Malheur County have been training and preparing for a different type of sport, one that involves studying the etymology of words or brushing up with the dictionary on commonly misspelled words.
This Friday, students will be relying on that training to compete in the third annual Malheur County Spelling Bee at Nyssa Elementary School.
Students in first through eighth grades from 19 public, private and charter schools in Malheur County will be spelling at the event.
The top three to finish in each grade level will be honored, and the overall contest winner will get the chance to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee held in Washington D.C. in May.
Cadi Corn from Nyssa won the Malheur County Spelling Bee championship last year and will be back to compete this year as a sixth-grader.
The contest for students in first through third grades will begin at 8:30 a.m. The competition for fourth- through sixth-graders will begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by seventh and eighth-graders at 10:30 a.m. Top spellers from each grade will then get to compete in a final round for the Overall Championship Bee title at 11:15 a.m.
The event will conclude with an awards ceremony at 12 p.m.
Registration is now closed, according to Nyssa Elementary Principal Matt Murray, but students can register if they recently participated in a local, school-level spelling bee.
Results from 2018
The top three spellers and their schools, in each grade at last year’s Malheur County Spelling Bee include:
1st Grade – Alicia Shurtleff, Alameda; Jackson Schilling, Cairo; and Jordan Bates, Vale.
2nd Grade – Brodin Brundy, May Roberts; Emiliano Barrera, Four Rivers; and Victoria Nau, St Peter Catholic School.
3rd Grade – Landyn Petty, Vale; Payton Thomas, Four Rivers; and Kendra Johnson, Treasure Valley Christian.
4th Grade – Ashlyn Hung, St Peter; Alex Dominguez, Alameda; and Ariel Martinez, Four Rivers
5th Grade – Cadi Corn, Nyssa Middle School; Georgie Rodriguez, Cairo; and Brianna Thomas, Four Rivers.
Sixth grade: Bea Hart, St. Peter; Nate Jensen, Nyssa; and Aydin Eddy, Willowcreek.
Seventh grade: Kohen Payne, Vale Middle School; Alexxa Ross, Willowcreek; and Ava Shaw, Annex Charter School.
Eighth grade: Jacqueline Marquez-Montalvo, Vale; Jessi Arriola, Willowcreek; and Patricia Bauer, Annex Charter.
Reporter Kristine de Leon: [email protected] or 541-473-3377.
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