(Note to local youthful spelling gods: After you kids are done whipping your geographically inferior competitors, please come help LoCO with our werdz.) 

Humboldt County Office of Education release below: 

 

Four students are headed for State Spelling Bee competitions after successfully spelling their way through the 35th Annual Humboldt County Spelling Bee held at the Humboldt County Office of Education’s Sequoia Conference Center.

The countywide competition drew an audience of 100 supporters who watched intently as 19 regional champions —10 at the elementary school level (4th – 6th grades) and 9 at the junior high school level (7th – 9th grades) — carefully responded to words posed by the Bee’s Spelling Master Nanette Voss, actor and English and Theatre Teacher at Eureka High School. The 19 students represented the top spellers in the county, as they qualified for this event by winning school and regional spelling bees held earlier this year.

Great Spellers - L: Dehority; R: Pitts

In the elementary division, students compete orally and are eliminated with their first misspelled word. This year, students spelled 126 words including “chapeau” and “miscellaneous,” before the contest advanced to tie-breaker rounds with three students remaining.  After a record seven tie-breaking words, ultimately two Co-Champions were determined: Aurora Pitts, a 5th grader from Alder Grove Charter School, and Jackson Dehority, a 5th grader from Jacoby Creek School.

More Great Spellers - L: Wagner; R: Hansen

Junior high students compete in a written contest based on a 4-word miss. After spelling 35 words, including “abeyance” and “nihilism”, Abigail Wagner, a 7th grader at Alder Grove Charter School, and Kai Hansen, a 8th grader at Sunny Brae Middle School, were named Co-Champions.

The four champions will now compete in the State Competitions. Pitts and Dehority will compete May 12 in Stockton, and Wagner and Hansen will compete May 5 in San Rafael. The Humboldt County Spelling Bee is sponsored by the Humboldt County Office of Education’s Rising Stars Foundation with the support of local schools. The Foundation is providing the four students necessary funds for travel as well as paying their entrance fees.