BAXTER - Forestview Middle School eighth-grader Abe Albrecht - who said "I really didn't want to be here ... I don't like spelling bees" - outspelled 14 other students to win the Brainerd spelling bee Wednesday while on stage in the cafetorium at Forestview.
Abe, the son of Dewey Albrecht and Audra Lind, went through eight rounds with all the competing students and then six tie-breaking rounds with eighth-grader Adrian Olson, the son of Chris and Jennifer Olson, for the win. Abe and Adrian were the only students who spelled all their words correctly in the first eight rounds to compete in the spelldown.
Abe, Adrian and five other students, who qualified, will advance to the regional spelling bee, The Lakes Bee. The regional bee will be held March 18 at Tornstrom Auditorium in Brainerd. The Lakes Bee, sponsored by the National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA), is a regional bee where students in grades four through eight in Crow Wing, Morrison, Wadena, Todd and Cass counties compete for a chance to advance to the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee in May in Washington, D.C.
Brainerd students in grades sixth through eighth are the only ones who can compete in Brainerd's district bee. Written tests are given to all the students in sixth through eighth grade that consists of around 1,500 students. Then the top 15 students with the highest score qualify for the oral district bee. Then the top seven from the district bee advance to the regional bee, where then only one student will advance to nationals.
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jennewsgirl .
ADVERTISEMENT
