NEW BOSTON- The 70th Annual Scioto County Spelling Bee was held at the South Central Ohio Educational Service Center, in New Boston, on Thursday, March 9.

The purpose of the spelling bee is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts and develop correct English usage that will help them throughout their lives.

Twenty students participated in the County Spelling Bee after winning Spelling Bees at their own schools. Thirteen districts participated: Leonna Maguire and Addy Young from Clay, Lily Webb from Green, Will Weekly and Brooklynn Madden from Minford, Ella Craft from New Boston, Carter Anderson and Jordan Emmons from Northwest, Saegan Bozeman and Alex Salazar from Notre Dame, Kylon Spears from Portsmouth, Thayer Collins from East Portsmouth Elementary, Landen Coleman and Jazzmyn Keeton from Sciotoville Community Schools, Izaiah McMahon from South Webster, Jaxon Bentley from Valley, Ethan Hunt and Aydan Gambill from West, and Ethan Chamberlin and Ryan Frazee from Wheelersburg.

The 2023 Champion of the Scioto County Spelling Bee was Ryan Frazee, who is in the 7th grade at Wheelersburg Middle School. Ryan was awarded a trophy and $300.

Second place was awarded to Jaxon Bentley, 8th grader at Valley Middle School, who received $150. Third place went to Izaiah McMahon, 6th grader at South Webster Elementary, receiving $75. Fourth place went to Kylon Spears, 6th grader at Portsmouth Elementary, who received $50.

The event was coordinated by Sharee Price, Gifted Services Coordinator at the South Central Ohio Educational Service Center. Sponsors were Glockner Enterprises, Rotary Club of Portsmouth, Scioto Foundation, and SOMC.

The pronouncer for the event was Nate Marcum. Judges were Paige Williams, Director of the Portsmouth Public Library, Debbie McGinnis, retired Portsmouth City Schools English teacher, and Marla Beebe, Research & Instruction Librarian at Clark Memorial Library, Shawnee State University. The greeter was Jeannine Shelpman, EMIS Coordinator at South Central Ohio ESC.

“All the students did a great job. Spelling bees require students to not only be able to spell, but to be able to think on their feet and speak in front of an audience. Students gain self-confidence by participating in events like this and they often times learn a lot from these types of interactions with their peers.” Price said.