Mountrail County Spelling Bee Held
The annual Mountrail County Spelling Bee returned to Stanley this year on Tuesday, Feb. 11. The Spelling Bee is open to fifth through eighth grade students in the county with students from North Shore/Plaza, New Town, Parshall and Stanley competing this year.
Students first compete in the written test, which determines the place winners from each grade. The oral spelldown determines which students will advance to the State Spelling Bee. The State Spelling Bee is set for Monday, Mar. 17 at the Bismarck Event Center.
It would take several rounds for spellers to determine a winner in the oral competition as they faced challenging words. The winning words would be spelling crystalline followed by translucent.
First place this year went to Bobbi Young Bird of New Town. Second place went to Marc Guevarra of New Town. Third place went to Slade Stout of Stanley. Young Bird will represent Mountrail County at the State Spelling Bee, with Guevarra serving as the alternate if she is unable to attend.
Individual grade winners for each grade were as follows:
Fifth grade: Darie Pitogo of Parshall, first place; Slade Stout of Stanley, second place; and Harper White Buffalo of New Town, third place.
Sixth grade: Cooper Skarsgard of Stanley, first place; Zoe Mortensen, Stanley, second place; and Maitreya Baker, New Town, third place.
Seventh grade: Bobbi Young Bird of New Town, first place; Lily Swaney, New Town, second place; and Kobe DeCoteau, New Town, third place.
Eighth grade: Marc Guevarra of New Town, first place; Ilse Rojas, New Town, second place; and Zeke Wienbar, Stanley, third place.
Those advancing to the oral spelldown were Bobbi Young Bird, Marc Guevarra, Lily Swaney, Ilse Rojas, Kobe DeCoteau, Athena Starr and Michelle Mandan of New Town; Lynde Myers of North Shore Plaza; Darie Pitogo and Dominic Waldock of Parshall; and Zeke Wienbar, Slade Stout and Reese Mortensen of Stanley.