SPELLING BEE … Contestants from the Williams County Spelling Bee stand for a picture following the contest. Names provided from left to right. Back row – Logan Samper, Aaron Cheeseman, Mia Hawkins, Payten Hall, Jalen Fort, Troy Snyder, Mya Parker. Middle row – Savannah Thompson, Jocelin Lopez, Melody Gineman, Stella Fellers, John Deitemeyer, Finley Davis. Front row – Deegan Roth, Weston Brown, Presley Yoder. (PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER, STAFF)
By: Jacob Kessler
The Williams County Spelling Bee was held during the evening hours of Tuesday, January 24th. Contestants took to the stage at 7:30 p.m. at the Stryker High School auditorium as the contest began.
Students representing each of the nine Williams County schools were present to compete in the bee.
Those students who competed in the contest are as follows. Troy Snyder and Mya Parker from Bryan City Schools. Jalen Fort and Mia Hawkins from Edon Northwest Schools. Logan Samper and Presley Yoder from Edgerton Schools. Savannah Thompson from Hilltop. Weston Brown and Payten Hall from Montpelier Schools.Deegan Roth and Stella Fellers from North Central Schools. Michael Damms and Aaron Cheeseman from Stryker Schools. Jocelin Lopez and Melody Gineman from St. Mary’s Catholic School. Finley Davis and John Deitemeyer from St. Patrick Catholic School.
After each of the contestants came up onto the stage, organizers of the Spelling Bee from NwOESC explained the rules to each of them before calling them up one by one to the microphone to introduce themselves and complete a practice word.
The rounds then began with the first round seeing words like water, bookworm and scold. Only one contestant was eliminated during this round.
The second round then began and saw words like gradual, zebra, shoulder and freckle asked. Five contestants were eliminated during this round. Round three then started with words like nephew, permission, demolition and incentive asked.
WINNERS OF THE BEE … Aaron Cheeseman of Stryker and Logan Samper of Edgerton stand for a picture after winning 1st and 2nd place at the Williams County Spelling Bee.
Four contestants were eliminated from this round. Rounds then continued on until only two contestants remained in the tenth round.
Aaron Cheeseman of Stryker and Logan Samper of Edgerton were the last two contestants to remain.
During this round the two who remained received the words seclusion and affluent. Logan Samper was unsuccessful with the spelling of his word which led to the last and final round.
Round eleven began with Aaron Cheeseman receiving his word. If he was to miss this word, the missed word from round ten would cancel out and the two would continue on. Cheeseman received the word stamina and correctly spelled the word.
Aaron Cheeseman from Stryker was given the title, 2023 Williams County Spelling Bee Champion. Each student who competed in the contest was given a certificate and a medal.
Both Aaron Cheeseman and Logan Samper also received a plaque. Following the contest, everyone came back up on stage for a picture.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com
