Superintendent of Schools, Barry Simpson, is pleased to announce that Bryce Winzenread from Round Valley Elementary won first place in the Inyo County Spelling Bee, sponsored by Altrusa. Twenty-seven students from local elementary and middle schools participated in the 2019-20 countywide Spelling Bee at Jill Kinmont Boothe School.
The winners of the competition were:
1st Place Bryce Winzenread (5th ) Round Valley
2nd Place Robin Linse (8th ) Home Street Middle School
3rd Place Bryce Cokeley (6th ) Home Street Middle School
After much fierce competition with words like condign, rapscallion, and anathema, the winning word was: paduasoy. The spelling contestants included: Trinity Diaz from Big Pine; Bryce Cokeley, Ashley Fitt, Julia Hoang, Robin Linse, Sam Wilson, and Elizabeth McLamb from Bishop Schools; Ayden Baker, Jaycee Eaton, Kaedyn
Hilliard, Aiden Kingsford, and Paul Rodriguez from Lone Pine; Lily Floyd, Kevin Glenn, Jordan Hasty, Noah Reade, and Avy Reilly-Todd from Owens Valley; Rylee Delmas, Maleah DeVincent, Kiera Hubbard-Shinto, Maya Perry, and Bryce Winzenread from Round Valley. Several students also joined the preliminary competition as
alternates to get practice for next year: Elizabeth McLamb from Bishop; Joan Rosales and Selena Peden from Lone Pine; Jade Griego and Drake Martinez from Owens Valley; as well as Marley Whirl from Round Valley.
Thank you to coaches Tim Steele, Meghan Fuchs, Carmen London, Bob Heist, Gemma Arana, and Jennifer Morales for working with their students to prepare them for the bee.
The local Altrusa chapter sponsored the competition. They brought cash prizes and trophies for the 1st , 2nd , and 3rd place winners, along with $10 gift cards to Spellbinder Books for all participants. Maggie Kingsbury, Sherri Lisius, and Cheri Stewart attended to judge the competition and distribute awards to students. Lynne Almeida and Ilissa Twomey graciously fulfilled the positions of Final Competition Pronouncer and Preliminary Competition Pronouncer respectively. The Round Valley PTO donated $10 to the “last person standing” from each of the five districts competing. The recipients of those awards were:
Trinity Diaz – Big Pine
Sam Wilson – Bishop
Kaedyn Hilliard – Lone Pine
Lily Floyd – Owens Valley
Kiera Hubbard-Shinto – Round Valley
Representing Inyo County at the Elementary State Bee in May will be Bryce Winzenread and Bryce Cokeley. Robin Linse and Trinity Diaz will represent Inyo County at the Junior High State Bee in May. Congratulations to all the student participants!