VERMILLION, S.D. (KELO AM) – More than two dozen students, representing 10 schools, will compete at the 2015 Southeast South Dakota Regional Spelling Bee at the University of South Dakota on Saturday, Feb. 7.
The competition will begin with a written and vocabulary test at 9 a.m. followed by the oral bee at 10 a.m. at Aalfs Auditorium. The event will be streamed live online at www.usd.edu. Students participating are Luke Kavanagh, seventh grade, Paige Raker, eighth grade, and Taya Bult, sixth grade, all from Scotland; Hari Kadarkaraisamy, fifth grade, Anna Armbrust, fifth grade, Teo Kim, fifth grade, Austin Hamm, fifth grade, Debbie Campbell, third grade, Ryleigh Sherlock, second grade, Owen Dudley, eighth grade, Brady Martinez, seventh grade, and Gregg Logan, seventh grade, all from Vermillion; and Sophia Vyborny, eighth grade, Anna Carda, fifth grade, Ryan Trail, sixth grade, Bradley Howe, seventh grade, Simon Carlson, eighth grade, and Lauren Gillis, sixth grade, all from Yankton; Kennedy Gallisath, fifth grade, Hannah Mickey, seventh grade, and Jackson Nei, fifth grade, all from Castlewood; Awo Addo, fourth grade, Tyler Cornelsen, second grade, Valerie Norby, third grade, Anica Reimer, Caden Peters, seventh grade, Nana Addo, fifth grade, Andrew Jensen, eighth grade, and Madi Rhee, sixth grade, all from Dakota Valley; and Merik Junker, fourth grade, Grace Martenson, fourth grade, and Jared Volesky, sixth grade, Immaculate Conception School.
This year Rotary Club International has been a valued partner with the spelling bee program across the state of South Dakota lending their support as volunteers and with grant funding. The school of each top place winner from each regional bee will be presented a plaque in honor of their student thanks to the support of Rotary International.
Other regional Bees will also be held across the state, including the Rapid City Journal Regional Spelling Bee, Rapid City; Corn Palace Regional Spelling Bee, Mitchell; Sioux Falls Regional Spelling Bee; Northcentral Regional Spelling Bee, Mobridge. The top three contestants from each regional bee will advance to the USD Scripps Spelling Bee on March 21. The top place finisher from that contest will compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee and represent South Dakota in Washington D.C. May 24-29.