Students advance to state spelling bee
As each student stepped to the microphone, their objective was simple – to stave-off the dreaded ring of the bell for one more round.
Some were more successful than others, but in the end, only one did not hear the sound, and she, Claire Hatch, a seventh-grader from Absarokee, was named champion of the Stillwater County Spelling Bee.
Twenty-one students from Absarokee, Columbus, Park City, and Rapelje gathered in the Columbus cafeteria March 1 for the annual county-wide spelling bee. Hosted by the County Superintendent of Schools Judy Martin, the bee was judged by teacher Danen Johannes and principal Marlene Deis. The pronouncer was Lorrie Koski.
Each of the students, representing grades five through eight, won class-wide spelling bees to qualify for the county contest.
By the fifth round, the group had been narrowed to four, and in round seven, Hatch won the bee by consecutively spelling “automaton” (another word for robot) and “emperor” correctly.
A spell-off was necessary to determine the second place finisher, and Hannah Kimble, a Columbus sixth-grader, prevailed with the word “prosthetic.” Payton West, an eighth-grader from Columbus, finished in third.
The next step for Hatch is the Treasure State Spelling Bee in Billings on Saturday, March 18. Kimble is the county’s alternate.