Graham Wins Middle School Spelling Bee for Second YearGraham Wins Middle School Spelling Bee for Second Year

For the second year in a row, sixth-grader Joseph Graham won the Middle School Spelling Bee on Jan. 19. The bee went nine rounds, including one vocabulary round. The championship word was “accordingly.”



The runners up were eighth-grader Theo Bacon and seventh-grader Zoe Justice. Zoe was an alternate and did not know she would be competing until the night before.



The first- and second-place winners will go on to represent Whitefield in the regional bee.



The 20 Middle School students who participated in the bee were selected from each Middle School English class after completing a written test with 25 spelling words and five vocabulary words. The top five scorers in each class moved on to the school competition.



Middle School spelling bee participants:



Efe Aror (5)

Marin Eckerson (5)

Drew Heiskell (5)

Sydney Nettles (5)

Annie Strickland (5)

Katy Burklin (6)

Blake Darby (6)

Joe Graham (6)

Toun Oderinde (6)

Taylor Wade (6)

Zoe Justice (7) (alternate)

John Robert Bracher (7)

Sebastian Nandkeolyar (7)

Blaise Richburg (7)

Nate Ward (7)

Theo Bacon (8)

Justin Hall (8)

Bryan Holsinger (8)

Isabelle Jordan (8)

Tomi Oderinde (8)