Photo by Bridget Weishaar
Weston LaBonte, PLMS, was the winner of the county spelling bee. June Klenk, JWMS, was the runner-up.
by Bridget Weishaar
Thirteen rounds was all it took to crown a county spelling bee champion Feb. 21.
Weston LaBonte, a sixth-grader at Perry-Lecompton Middle School, correctly spelled calculator and patience to beat out runner-up June Klenk of Jefferson West Middle School.
The contest held at Jefferson County North Elementary Middle School in Nortonville got underway at 6 p.m. with a practice round to break the nerves.
In the first round, five contestants left the competition with five more following suit in round two. Leaving just LaBonte and Klenk to battle it out.
The duo went ten more rounds spelling words such as hypocaust, livid, and inclusion before Klenk mispelled the word calculator.
LaBonte correctly spelled calculator along with patience to be crowned the champion.
LaBonte is the son of Brad LaBonte and Nicole Miller. Klenk is the daughter of Michael and Rachel Klenk.
LaBonte will advance to the Sunflower State Bee. It will be held March 23 at Kansas Wesleyan University, Salina.
Other contestants in the bee were Avery Adcock, seventh-grader at Valley Falls, daughter of Terry and Tobi Adcock; Liam Blanton, fifth-grader at Jefferson County North, son of Eric and Cecilia Blanton; Valery Bolinger, third-grader at McLouth, daughter of Miriam and Charlie Bolinger; Tomas Buenrostro, third-grader at Oskaloosa, son of Everardo Montes and Perla Buenrostro; Abigail Downing, sixth-grader at Jefferson West, daughter of Mark and Julia Downing; Adrienne Hall, eighth-grader at Jefferson County North, daughter of Jenna and Joshua Hall; Bethany Kabus, eighth-grader at Oskaloosa, daughter of Ben and Terra Kabus; Olivia Partridge, sixth-grader at Valley Falls, daughter of Jennifer Partridge and Jeremiah Partridge; Levi Rector, fourth-grader at Perry-Lecompton, son of William Rector and Jessica Little; and Ayden Weixelman-Bryan, seventh-grader at McLouth, son of Christina Bryan.
Bobbie Meier, Jefferson County North EMS Principal, was the moderator. Judges were Susan Gray, Valley Falls Elementary and Middle School Principal; Jessica Noll, Jefferson County North Middle School Language Arts/History teacher; and Jamie Tate, Jefferson County North Middle School Language Arts teacher. The bee started with 12 contestants, 2 from each of the six county schools.