Sauk Rapids, St. Cloud Students Head To State Spelling Bee

SARTELL -- Two local students are moving on to the State Spelling Bee later this month.

Sauk Rapids-Rice 6th grader Lydia Johnson took first place during the morning session of the Regional Spelling Bee held at Resource Training and Solutions Monday.

Johnson's winning word was "hygiene." The 2nd place winner this morning was 8th grader Tomisin Ajayi from South Jr. High.

During the afternoon session North Branch 8th grader Kobe Yang took the victory by correctly spelling the word "vernacular." Coming in second place was 8th grader Mark Palmquist from Chisago Lakes.

The morning session went 12 rounds with 96 words, while the afternoon session wen 19 rounds with 145 words.

Johnson, Ajyai, Yang and Palmquist will represent their schools at the Multi-Regional State Spelling Bee on February 20th.

The top spelling from the State Spelling Bee will then attend the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. May 27th through June 1st.