Gertrude Walker Elementary School fourth grader, Michael Rodriguez, won the Finney County Spelling Bee that was held on Saturday, February 3 in Clifford Hope Auditorium on the Horace Good Middle School campus. He will participate in the state Spelling Bee that will be held at Mabee Arena on the Kansas Wesleyan University campus in Salina, Kansas on Saturday, March 23, 2024.
Cheryll Nei, a fifth grader from St. Mary School, was the runner-up in the competition. She will be the alternate for the state competition for Finney County.
Students from elementary through middle school grades from around Finney County competed in the spelling bee. There were 51 students that advanced from their school competitions to be in this year’s contest.
The spelling bee had ten rounds. The word that Michael spelled to win the competition was spectral.