Brant Adams Wins Jefferson County Spelling Bee

Staff Photo by Robin Archer

The Jefferson County Spelling Bee is a very competitive event and students study many long hours in preparation of their time on the stage. Students compete on the school level to determine a champion that will compete in the County wide spelling bee. Poor weather conditions necessitated the rescheduling of the event earlier this semester, however the wait did not lessen the enthusiasm of the participants. The Bee is an elimination event and generally the final round comes down to two competitors.  In the fifth round, with only four participants left, three miss spelled their words. Brant Adams spelled the winning word “Formative” correctly and was crowned champion. The next three competitors were all eliminated in the same round and so instead of hosting a spell off, they are going to award all three participants with a second place trophy. Second place is Shane Levin, 5th grade from Dandridge Elementary, Jeremiah Davis, 4th grade from Dandridge Elementary, Dalton Dillon, 5th grade from Mount Horeb. The first place winner Brant Adams is a 7th grader from Jefferson Middle School.

1st Place Winner Brant Adams, 7th Grader from Jefferson Middle School – Staff Photo by Robin Archer

Student school level winners represented the third through eighth grade in the competition. Two winners from each school participated in the County Wide Spelling Bee.

Competitors Were:  From Dandridge Elementary, was first place Shane Levin from the 5^th grade and Jeremiah Davis from the 4^th grade. Jefferson Elementary was represented by 1^st place Ashley Martinez of the fifth grade and 2^nd Cora Thomason from the fifth grade.  Jefferson Middle’s 1^st place winner was Marti Rogers from the 7^th grade along with second place winner Brant Adams also in the 7^th grade. From Maury Middle was 1^st place winner Erika Ferguson 7^th grade, and 2^nd place was Logan Inman also 7^th grade. Mount Horeb Elementary was represented by 1^st place winner Dalton Dillon of the 5^th Grade and 2^nd Place Isaiah Farrow of the 5^th grade. New Market Elementary the host of the event had 1^st place Tori Rogers of the 5^th grade along with Kenzie McGee of the fifth grade competing in their own cafeteria. Piedmont Elementary had 1^st place Dilyn Mahaffey from the fourth grade and 2^nd place Logan Brewer also from the fourth grade. Rush Strong Elementary had 1^st place winner Drakyn Taylor of the fourth grade and 2^nd place was Morgan Armstrong of the third grade. Rush Strong Middle School was 1^st place Lacy White , 8^th grade and 2^nd place Breanna Fields. Talbott Elementary 1^st place was Matthew Thompson, 5^th grade and Kailee Roach of the third grade. White Pine’s Elementary 1^st place Bailey Maynard of the 4^th grade and 2^nd place Cody Griffin of the 5^th grade. White Pine’s Middle School 1^st place was Evann Wilson from the 8^th grade and 2^nd place Seth Graham of the 8^th grade.