10 students advance to districts

The room was absolutely silent, with the exception of a teacher calling out a student's name and then giving them a word.

As round after round went by, the students let their nervousness show. Some were twiddling their thumbs, while others were visibly biting their fingernails. All of the 18 students competing in the Monroe Intermediate Schools' spelling bee all had the same goal in mind - make it to district, which will take place Feb. 17.

It seemed as though the words continued to increase in difficulty as they got closer and closer to  the 10th round, which was the last and final round. Some of the words these kids had to spell for a chance to advance included, literate, frustrated, combination, oddity, sectional, compatriots, indifference, engineering and allegiance. 

The participants were pretty composed even though they were given hard word after hard word to spell. That was until Kyra Holmes was asked to spell jacobean, to which she responded with a "what?" She quickly regained her composure and although she incorrectly spelled the word, she gave it her best.

After the end of the 10th round, the group had a 5-minute break. The students all left the room for a bit.

When they returned, they were talking about what words they got. Some couldn't believe they spelled some wrong, while others were happy they spelled some right.

Graci Hix took the opportunity to look up some of the words she received on her mom's phone to see if she spelled them right. 

Meanwhile, the judges used the break to discuss who the top 10 moving onto districts would be. However, after the break, several students had to compete in tie-breaking rounds before the final 10 were determined. 

The top 10 students, who will compete in the county spelling bee Feb. 17 are William Robertson, first place, Tyler Waters, second place, River Kirts, third place, Colby Bills, Kaden Eastman, Ana Fox, Karli Gibson, Jackson Mitchell, Ellie Taylor and Christian Worden.

Students who competed in the Monroe Intermediate School's spelling bee were Colby Bills, Eliza Burgess, Austin Corona, Tristan Drozd, Kaden Eastman, Ana Fox, Karli Gibson, Trystan Halter, Graci Hix, Kyra Holmes, Jordyn Huckabee, River Kirts, Jackson Mitchell, Brinley Nelson, William Robertson, Ellie Taylor, Tyler Waters and  Christian Worden.

 

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