A group of area students put their spelling skills to the test in the 2019 Sweetwater County Spelling Bee at the Western Wyoming Community College Rock Springs campus on Feb 8.

A total of 55 students participated from Pilot Butte Elementary, Lincoln Middle School, Rock Springs Junior High, Eastside Elementary, Holy Spirit Catholic School, and Green River Christian Academy. 

The overall winner was Amelia Lindsay, an 8th grader from RSJH. She was the only student to spell all words in the oral rounds correctly.

Amelia won a trophy, a medallion, $50 cash and a one year scholarship to WWCC.  Ashton Kelsey, a 7th grader from RSJH, finished second in the competition. He took home a trophy, a medallion, and $30 cash. 

Third place went Jackson Mitchell, an 8th grader from Lincoln Middle School in Green River. He won a trophy, a medallion, and $20 cash. 

Lindsay completed her perfect performance in the oral rounds by correctly spelling the word “boutique”.  Kelsey defeated Jackson Mitchell in a tiebreaker spelling the word “amethyst” correctly after Jackson Mitchell misspelled “siesta”. 

The top speller in the 5th/6th grade level was Ivie Schaechterle, a 6th grader from Eastside Elementary in Rock Springs. She won a trophy and medallion. 

The event was sponsored by Sweetwater BOCES, and cash prizes were provided by the WWCC Paraprofessionals Alliance. The director of the Bee is Dr. James Gustafson, Associate Professor of Spanish at WWCC. 

The four top spellers will next compete at the Wyoming State Spelling Bee, also hosted by WWCC, with a chance to move on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington DC.