This year’s bee, as always, was comprised of 20 spellers, 10 each from the junior high school and Southeast Elementary who earned their spot by placing in the top 10 of their respective school spelling bees. The top six spellers in the city bee each year earn the right to represent the Salem City School District at the Columbiana County Spelling Bee, which will be held on March 7 at Beaver Local High School this year. 

This year’s field of contestants featured students from all four eligible grades with three fifth graders, seven sixth graders, five seventh graders, and five eighth graders. Despite having the fewest representatives, it was ultimately a fifth-grade student who would win the bee after 18 hard fought rounds and more than an hour of continuous spelling when Aiden Smith successfully spelled “aquacade” and “ballistics” in succession. 

The bee began with a practice round to help students to shake off any nerves prior to the first elimination round, and participants were able to request their word be repeated, defined, used in a sentence, its place of origin, and what part of speech the word was. From the second round on spellers were challenged with words that they had not had the opportunity to study prior to the start of the bee drawn from the Merriam Webster Unabridged list. 

The competition began in earnest when McKayLynn Cox (eighth grade) correctly spelled “lacrosse” to begin the first elimination road. The first elimination came on the second word of the spelling bee drawn by “cajolery,” and was followed by eight more eliminations in round one for a total of eight, the most of the bee. The eliminations slowed from there with one in round two, three in round three, two in round four, three in round five leaving only Smith and first runner-up Jacob Capaldi (eighth grade) to compete alone for rounds six through 18. During that standoff both Smith and Capaldi made unsuccessful attempts to spell two words consecutively and clinch a win before Smith’s final victory. 

McKayLynn Cox (eighth grade) correctly spells “lacrosse” to begin the first elimination road. (Photo by Morgan Ahart) 

In addition to Smith and Capaldi the district will be represented at the county spelling bee by Noah Rigby (seventh grade), Jessica Johnson (seventh grade), Cox, and Logan Stratton (sixth grade) who placed second, third, fourth, and fifth runner-up respectively, with Hailey Jackson (sixth grade) and Shane Seddon (fifth grade) serving as first and second alternate respectively.

Shown from left in the rear row are fourth runner-up McKayLynn Cox, fifth runner-up Logan Stratton, first alternate Hailey Jackson, and second alternate Shane Seddon. Shown from left in the front row are winner Aiden Smith, first runner-up Jacob Capaldi, second runner-up Jacob Rigby, and third runner-up Jessica Johnson. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)