The Lawrence County Spelling Bee was held on Thursday at the Lawrence Courthouse in the Commissioner’s Conference Center and 11 students competed for the championship.
Ellwood City competitors from left to right included Zoey Kalantzis, Haley Veras (2nd place winner), Avery Schanno, Nikol Damato.
By round nine, there were three contestants left. After spelling correctly in eight rounds, Braiden Wills, from St. Vitus School, misspelled ‘susceptible’ and secured his position as the third place winner.
The remaining two students went another 16 rounds before one could be eliminated. Words such as corduroy, ferociously, kaleidoscope, ricochet, and psychiatry challenged the students.
The second place winner was Haley Veras from Ellwood City. The first place winner was Anthony Morgan from St. Vitus who was able to correctly spell ‘conscientious’ in the final round.
Other competitors included: Levi Green, Marissa Butera, Matthew Moore, Arielle Ricchione, Zoe Kalantzis, Jordon Essinger, Nikol Damato and Avery Schanno.
The Spelling Bee was organized by Mrs. Jonica Walters, Gifted Coordinator from Ellwood City Area Schools. Interested parties should contact their gifted/enrichment teacher in their school district for information about next year’s Bee.
