Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883

Baumbach makes top ten at State Spelling Bee

Boeshans of Carrington takes fifth place

Bailey Baumbach, Eddy County Spelling Bee Champion, was among the top-10 finalists at the North Dakota State Spelling Bee on Monday, March 21 at the Bismarck Event Center.

Baumbach and Alex Weisenburger represented Eddy County at the event, which was held for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Bailey is the daughter of Avolt and Jennifer Baumbach, and Alex is the son of Lucas Weisenburger and Terah Weisenburger. 

Carrington student, Jacob Boeshans, took fifth place at the N.D. State Spelling Bee.

Luna Gasevic was declared the 2022 State Champion after correctly spelling the word "tuberculosis." Luna is a sixth grader at Ben Franklin Middle School in Cass County. She is the daughter of Lejla & Enej Gasevic.

Luna said it felt "amazing" winning the state title. To prepare for the event, Luna explained, "I went through a lot of stems. I looked at some languages and I went over the 'Words of the Champions' word list."

As the 2022 State Spelling Bee Champion, Luna's grand prize is a trip to Washington, D.C. during the week of Memorial Day to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. She also took home a plethora of prizes. Luna also received a perfect score on the spelling words portion of the written test.

Chinmay Gopi is the 2022 Runner-Up. He is a seventh grader at Ben Franklin Middle School in Cass County. Chinmay is the son of Sreejith & Sini Gopi. Gopi also earned a perfect score on both the spelling words and vocabulary portion of the written test.

Joseph Cotton took third place. He is an eighth grader at Stanley Junior High School in Mountrail County. His parents are Colette & Lance Cotton.

Morgan Thomson finished in fourth place. He is an eighth grader at Enderlin Area Public School in Ransom County. He is the son of Jared and Liddie Thomson.

The State Spelling Bee competition began in the morning with a 50-word written spelling test, followed by a 20-question, multiple choice vocabulary test. Students with the top 25 scores (and any ties at 25) advanced to the oral session in the afternoon. This year (with ties), 27 students advanced to the oral rounds.

"It was a delight to see such gifted young spellers represent their schools and counties from across the state. Each finalist amazed me with their poise and confidence at the microphone," said Miranda Streifel, N.D. State Spelling Bee coordinator. "All of the participants should be extremely proud for making it this far."

Administration for the State Spelling Bee is handled by North Dakota Association of County Superintendents (NDACS). The North Dakota Newspaper Association Education Foundation, North Dakota Masonic Foundation and North Dakota Masons co-sponsored the event.

Jodi Johnson, President of NDACS said, "I was really excited this year to have the State Spelling Bee in person. It was so fun to see the kids and experience the bee. I can't wait for next year and wish Luna the best of luck at the national bee."

"I am so happy to represent the N.D. Newspaper Association Education Foundation and its mission to promote literacy with our state's young people," said Sarah Elmquist Squires, Executive Director. "All the qualifiers did such a fantastic job and I found myself spelling alongside them in my head, and they beat me a few times. Congratulations to all the students who qualified and participated, who represented their communities so well."

 
 
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