Gainesville —

Each school hosted individual grade spelling bees. The grade winners were then invited to participate in the school’s spelling bee. Now, those winners will advance.

At Chalmers, Colby Brasher took first place when he correctly spelled the word “marshmallow.” Lily Kemp placed second after the word “lightning” stumped her and Caden Myers finished third after being knocked out by the word “quarrel.”

Colby Brasher is the son of Dr. Jeff Brasher and his wife Kim. Colby said he was happy to be the winner. He attributed his win to the help his parents provided while studying.

When asked how he would match up with the eighth-graders at the district bee, Colby said, “Those big eighth-grader words don’t scare me.”

Lily is the daughter of Shannon and Nathan Kemp. Lilly credited her success to a cramming session the night before.

The day of the bee, Lilly said she spent time in the hall studying for the bee.

“When I told my mom she was very happy and told me that even though I didn’t when first place, I was still a winner to her,” Lily said.

Caden is the son of Flaviana and Mike Myers. Caden said “I feel good to be going to district.”

“I am very excited to have our students going to district,” Chalmers principal Dr. Christina Blasingame said. “Our students and our teachers have worked very hard. We are very blessed with bright students and I can’t wait till that night to go out and support our students.”

Robert E. Lee’s winner Mya Stradley’s winning moment was when the word “larceny” was pronounced to her, and she was a sight to remember.

“Her eyes lit up you could tell she knew the word,” said Lee principal Courtney Stevens.

Mya is a fifth-grader and the daughter of Tiffany and Donnie Stradley.

“I am excited to be going to district,” she said. “The eighth-grade words are really hard.”

Second place at Lee went to fourth-grader Amy Rodriguez. Amy is the daughter of Maria and Benny Rodriguez. Amy last word was “clarinet”

To be going on to district, Amy said “I am really proud of myself.”

Third place at Lee went to fourth-grader Sadhvika Chitoor. Sadhvika is the daughter of Shivani and Ram Chitoor. Sadhvika was eliminated from the bee by the word “dreadful.”

“My mom and dad are helping me prepare for the next spelling bee,” Sadhvika said.

At Gainesville Middle School the winner was sixth-grader Jocelyn Sanchez with the winning word “quarrel.” Jocelyn lives with her brother Saul Sanchez and his wife, Sue.

“I am really happy to be the winner,” Jocelyn said. “I hope I can keep it up and move on to the national spelling bee.”

In second place, eighth-grader Kendra Henry was knocked out with the word “assign.” Kendra is the daughter of Shawnna Henry and granddaughter of Lesa Orgain.

“It feels good to be moving on,” Kendra said. “Sort of an honor because of all of the work I have put into studying.”

Third place went to Tate Wadkins after he accidentally misspelled the word “munchkins.” Tate is the son of Amy and Danny Henry.

When asked about the district spelling bee, Tate said he was a little nervous.

“I am extremely excited and look forward to the opportunity to showcase our outstanding students at the district bee,” GMS principal Terry Ashby said. “At the campus bee all of our students gave a tremendous effort and performed very well. I have nothing but confidence in our top three to make an outstanding effort during the district bee on the 24th.”

At Edison Elementary School, the top two students went 16 rounds before determining Nolan Garder as the winner with Benson Tran finishing in second place. Nolan won the competition after curator Patsy Wilson moved to the third- and fourth- grade level words. Nolan’s winning word was “knapsack.”

Due to their age, Nolan and Benson advance to the district spelling bee.

“The district bee is a celebration honoring the top three winners from the three schools,” Director of Extracurricular Events at GISD Craig Hertel said.

Mya Stradley, Colby Brasher and Jocelyn Sanchez will represent GISD in the county spelling bee at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 8 in the Muenster Independent School District Cafetorium.



Staff photo by Clay Corbett

Jim Perry, publisher of the Gainesville Daily Register, welcomes Ricky Ashford, 11, of Krum to the newspaper. Ricky toured the newspaper office to help earn his communication badge for the Webelos, Cub Scout Troop 136, sponsored by the Krum United Methodist Church. He came with his mom, Jackie, and his sister Desiree, 11. Ricky is a student at Dodd Intermediate School.