County spelling bee set for Friday

Sanders County students will gather at the Sanders County Courthouse later this week to put their spelling skills to the test for the annual Sanders County Spelling Bee.

The county bee is sponsored by The Sanders County Ledger and First Security Bank. Former Ledger owner Tom Eggensperger will serve as the pronouncer at this year’s bee. Karen Dwyer, Joanne Burk and Kate Baxter of Thompson Falls will serve as judges.

County schools held spelling bees this month to determine which fourth through sixth graders would advance to the county competition. At Noxon School, eighth grader Avalynn Grimm won first place, sixth grader Asher Hartman second place and eighth grader Jett Irgens third.

The Hot Springs school bee was won by Ryo Aruda, a fifth grader. Classmate Grace Hindman was second and Syndi Sepp, a fourth grader, finished third. Seventh grader Elizabeth Knudsen will also represent Hot Springs on Friday.

The top competitions from Thompson Falls include winner Nathan Baxter, second-place finisher Kaleb Susic, third-place winner Easton Helvey and Gabby Taylor, who finished in fourth place.

Three students from Plains will compete in Friday’s spelling bee, including fifth grader Palmer Revier, sixth grade student Paisley Farthing and seventh grader Reese Meredith.

Four Dixon students will be at the county bee, including Aly Bigcrane (eighth grade), Madison Vanderburg (sixth), Sonny Matt (seventh) and Sid Boyd (fourth).

At Trout Creek School, fifth grader Damion Conley won the school competition, but will be unable to compete at the county level. Representing Trout Creek at the county bee will be Liylah Williams (eighth grade), Sonja Swatman (seventh grade) and Geneva Schmidt (fifth grade).

The county spelling bee will begin at 1 p.m. in the third floor courtroom at the Sanders County Courthouse in Thompson Falls. The winner of the county bee will compete in the 2024 Treasure State Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 9, at Montana State University in Bozeman.