The county’s top spellers recently converged in the Central Services auditorium to compete in the Cleveland County Schools Spelling Bee.
Each student-speller put in their best effort to spell their words correctly to make it to the next round(s). However, such words as headdress, hangar, and mantra stopped a few spellers from advancing. A word such as hangar is a homophone (a word having similar pronunciation as another word but with a different meaning and spelling) requiring a bit of probing from the Bee’s word reader to ensure proper spelling of the correct word.
Rebecca Diaz of Burns Middle prevailed as this year’s top speller and will compete again at Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC, in hopes of advancing to Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee later this year.
Diaz took home the grand champion trophy, while all participants received $50 from the CCS Educational Foundation for simply advancing to the district competition.
See below for the complete list of Spelling Bee contestants.
- Hayden Wray of Bethware Elementary
- Max Foley of Boiling Springs Elementary
- Rebecca Diaz of Burns Middle
- Mason Warlick of Casar Elementary
- Landan Goad of Cleveland Innovation
- Callan Hagler of Crest Middle
- Jevian Johnston of East Elementary
- Quavis Thurman of Elizabeth Elementary
- Josie Cornwell of Fallston Elementary
- Jacob Martin of Grover Elementary
- Journey Wilson-Young of James Love Elementary
- Emerson Lowery of Jefferson Elementary
- Devin Hope of Kings Mtn. Intermediate
- Lilly Nealy of Kings Mtn. Middle
- Kenzie Garris of North Elementary
- Brian Smith of Shelby Middle
- Samuel Gibson of Springmore Elementary
- Adrianna McDaniel of Township Three Elementary
- Stella Fortenberry of Union Elementary
- Madilynn Watson of Washington Elementary
- Finn Falls of West Elementary
Click here to view imagery captured during the event.