U.P. Spelling Bee Finals

Believe it or not but Spelling Bee’s have been around since the mid 18th century.

And today the Upper Peninsula Community Education Association continued that tradition with their Spelling Bee Finals. Just over a dozen schools went head to head today or rather word for word. The fifth, sixth, seventh and eight graders were given words to study and they also had to think on their feet. One of their most important obstacles was not letting their nerves get the best of them.

“The kids get a list of words and it is up to them to become familiar with them and be able to spell them and become familiar with the definitions and pronunciations. However, once we go through that list we go to the stump list and that list the kids have not received and at that point they are reverting to their basic spelling skills in order to make it through that part. We tell them they are not half as nervous as their parents but often the nerves work in their favor, it keeps them on their toes and it causes them to stop, take their time and think,” said Jerry Carnes, U.P Spelling Bee Finals Moderator.

Once the top spellers get narrowed down to a final four, competing at your grade level goes out the window and it’s every speller for himself or herself. The event was hosted by the Ishpeming Negaunee NICE Community Schools. The winner, 6th grader, Zander Worm, Washington Middle School, Calumet, will go on to represent the U.P. at the nationals in Washington D.C.

The Runner Ups are:

• Runner Up: Shweta Pati, Houghton Middle School, Houghton
• Third Place: Olivia Bohl, Graveraet Elementary, Marquette
• Fourth Place: Marlee Matthews, Bothwell Middle School, Marquette

5th Grade Winners:

• Olivia Bohl, Graveraet Elementary
• Cody Ringler, Dollar Bay-Tamarack
• Micaela Geborkoff, Houghton Elem
• Meghana Choragudi, Woodland Elem
• Alaska Peterson, Bark River-Harris
• Tressa Ives, Bark River-Harris
• Samantha Doran, Woodland Elem
• Hannah Brewster, Emerald Elem
• Hayden Klamerus, Soo Township
• Susanna Suardini, Negaunee M.S.
• Isabella DePaul, Drummond Island
• Karah Renk, St. Francis de Sales
• Ellie Carrothers, Ewen-Trout Creek

6th Grade Winners:

• Zander Worm, Washington M.S.
• Jack Perpich, Kingsford M.S.
• Christina Glodowski, Kingsford M.S
• Ariella Murray, Holy Name Catholic
• Adriana Lorendo, Ironwood Elem
• Lilly Alaspa, Sault Area Schools
• Rebecca Ryan, Aspen Ridge M.S.
• Zoe Kolenda, West Iron County
• Sophia Smithson, Norway Area
• Madacyn Helstein, Aspen Ridge M.S
• Dakota Jenerou, Manistique M.S.
• Samuel Fang, Houghton M.S.
• Emma Fiegel, Big Bay de Noc
• Nathan Piche, Carney-Nadeau

7th Grade Winners:

• Shweta Pati, Houghton M.S.
• Madelyn Yake, Iron Mountain M.S.
• Lily McLean, St. Ignace Area
• Zoe Johnson-Berman, Houghton M.S
• Katherine Troyer, Manistique M.S.
• Katara Jones, Nah Tah Wahsh
• Lauren Kwarciany, Bark River-Harris
• Nina Alpers, Rudyard Area Schools
• Caitlyn Scornaiencki, Sault Area M.S.
• Melissa Anderson, L.L. Wright
• Leandra Bruggink, Bothwell M.S.
• Mya Grubbs, West Iron County
• Zoe Zanzot, Norway-Vulcan M.S.
• Emily Mannor, Gwinn M.S.
• Isaac Brewster, Manistique M.S.

8th Grade Winners:

• Marlee Matthews, Bothwell M.S.
• Lana Alaraje, Houghton M.S.
• Trinity Bauer, St. Mary Catholic
• Melanie Jones, Manistique M.S.
• Lauren Denney, Manistique M.S.
• Shawna Jackson, L.L. Wright
• Mariah Wilmer, Lake Linden-Hubbell
• Kelsey Koehler, Iron Mountain M.S.
• Grace Ouwinga, Holy Name Catholic
• Evan Griffis, Newberry Area Schools
• Eden Oswald, Bark River-Harris
• Clover Steva, Iron Mountain M.S.
• Alexis Jacks, West Iron County
• Tucker Borlace, Negaunee M.S.