First grade McKenzie County spelling bee winners (L-R) Londyn Devlin, Watford City, first place; Shaun Sax, JCCA, second place; Arianna Hodges, East Fairview and Trytin Helfrich, Watford City, tied for third place.
Second grade McKenzie County spelling bee winners (L-R) Haven Thompson, Watford City, third place; Skye Cutshall, JCCA, second place; Annabelle Bohn, Watford City and James Dean, Alexander, tied for first place.
Third grade McKenzie County spelling bee winners (L-R) Kayde Stull, Watford City, first place; Drew Walters, Watford City, second place and Kayla Rome, Alexander, third place.
Fourth grade McKenzie County spelling bee winners (L-R) Harley Wright, Watford City, first place; Kahlan Alyadumi, Watford City, second place and Macy Tjelde, East Fairview, third place.
Fifth grade McKenzie County spelling bee winners (L-R) Sawyer Rafferty, Watford City, first place; Elijah Katt, Watford City, second place and Emma Carlson, Watford City, third place.
Sixth grade McKenzie County spelling bee winners (L-R) Kree Hartel, Watford City, second place; Akira Hogue, Watford City, third place and Kayla Sullivan, Watford City, first place.
Seventh grade McKenzie County spelling bee winners (L-R) Hayden LaDue, Alexander, third place; Ofeisha McCall, Watford City, first place and Serenity Voisin, Watford City, second place.
Eighth grade McKenzie County spelling bee winners (L-R) Rory Cozzens, East Fairview, third place; Alex Reeves, Watford City, second place and Evander Long, Watford City, first place.
After four rounds of oral finals, the overall winners were (L to R) Evander Long, first place, Kayla Sullivan, second place and Kree Hartel, third place.
McKenzie County conducted it's annual spelling bee under the direction of Carol Kieson, McKenzie County Supt. of Schools. The competition was held Wednesday, February 21 at Alexander Public School, hosted by Superintendent Leslie Bieber and her staff. The 2018 State Spelling Bee will be held in Bismarck March 26 at the Ramkota Inn. The North Dakota Masonic Foundation, The North Dakota Association of County Superintendents, and the North Dakota Newspaper Association co-sponsor the State Spelling Bee. The State Bee is affiliated with the National Spelling Bee which will be held in Washington, DC, May 27- June 1 and to which the co-sponsors will send the state winner.
Each county is allowed two entries in the state competition. All contestants compete in a written round of 50 words and a multiple choice vocabulary section from which the finalists are chosen. The finalists compete on an equal basis in an oral spelldown with first, second and third place winners being chosen.
Counties adopt plans for their own competitions. McKenzie County's Grades 1-5 take a written test of 25 words. Grades 6, 7 & 8 follow the national rules and are given a test of 50 written words. The top 3 spellers from the 6th, 7th and 8th grades compete in the oral spelldown.
The top three spellers in grades 6, 7 & 8 advance to the oral finals. Those nine participants draw for position in the oral spell down. Each speller then spells five words in each round. The top two spellers will advance to the state competition, with 3rd place being the alternate. Sumaiyah and Ashley both have experience at the ND State Spelling Bee, so McKenzie County is in a position to see these 2 students have a very successful Bee.
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