Fannin County Middle School (FCMS) sixth-grader Dylan Hart will represent the county at the virtual Regional 1 Spelling Bee, after he spelled his way to victory in the Fannin County School System’s Spelling Bee Tuesday, January 25.
Runner-up Danica Nicholson, a fifth-grader from East Fannin Elementary School (EFES), and Hart duked it out as finalists in round five. Hart correctly spelled “chai” with Nicholson misspelling the word “baroque,” a type of fabric. Both spellers won their school’s competition to advance to the county level.
Hart went on to correctly spell the words “embroidery” and “assassinate” to win the final, becoming the county’s champion.
Representing Blue Ridge Elementary School (BRES) was their Spelling Bee winner fourth-grader Hasin Usman, who did not falter when he spelled “faltered” in round one. In round one, West Fannin Elementary School (WFES) bee winner Owen Thomas, also a fourth-grader, successfully spelled “ransacked.” Round one words for Hart and Nicholson were “impolite” and “decimal,” respectively.
Round two was a tough round with all four competitors misspelling their word, but they came back strong in round three, which was a vocabulary round. All four students successfully chose the correct definition of the word they were given.
Both Usman and Thomas made a valiant effort in round four but misspelled “herbalist” and “mortification.” Hart correctly spelled “aversion” and Nicholson spelled “mallet” to become the two finalists.
Fannin County School System Director of CTAE/STEM Lucas Roof was the bee’s caller, and Principals Dr. April Hodges of BRES, Mathew Price of EFES, Alison Danner of WFES and Mark Young of FCMS were the judges.