BAXTER-Thirteen-year-old Meryl Tigenoah of Baxter Wednesday claimed the championship in the Brainerd Public Schools sixth through eighth grade oral spelling bee at Forestview Middle School in Baxter.
The Forestview eighth-grader outlasted 13 students for the win in a 20-round spelling bee and will move on the regional spelling bee called The Lakes Bee, scheduled March 2 to be held for the first time at the National Joint Powers Alliance building in Staples..
Six eighth-graders, six seventh-graders and two sixth-graders competed in the district bee. The students sat in two rows on the stage at the middle school in front of the pronouncer, the judges and an audience of mostly their parents and families. They sat quietly waiting for their turns, some nervous, others excited.
Brainerd students in grades sixth through eighth are the only ones who can compete in the Brainerd Public Schools bee. Written tests are given to all students in sixth through eighth grade-around 1,500 students. Then the top 15 students with the highest score qualify for the oral district bee.
The top seven from the district bee advance to The Lakes Bee, where only one student will advance to nationals.
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Full story on the spelling bee will be posed online once available.
