Walsh County Spelling Bee

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2018 Walsh County Spelling Bee

The 2018 Walsh County Spelling Bee will be held Thursday, February 15, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. in the Farmer’s Room at the Walsh County Courthouse.

The registration forms for the state and national bees can be found at www.pembinacountynd.gov/county/statespellingbee/. The deadline to register for the state and national bees without paying late fees is December 14, 2017. State and national fees must be paid for a student to participate at the state level.

  • Regarding Study Guides – the Scripps 2018 Spell-It! is the source for studying for the State Spelling Bee. Schools have access to this document with the Scripps login and password set up when they complete National enrollment with Scripps in the fall. Please note that the Oral Spelldown rounds at the State Spelling Bee will consist of words from the 2018 Spell It! as well as additional dictionary words that are not included in the study guides. The Walsh County Spelling Bee will also include words from the Scripps National Spelling Bee School Level Study Words.
  • We will send a local registration form and more details for our local competition in early January.
  • The top two spellers from Walsh County are eligible to participate in the State Spelling Bee on March 26, 2018 in Bismarck. The North Dakota Association of County Superintendents sponsors the State Spelling Bee. The State Bee is affiliated with the Scripps National Spelling Bee which will be held near Washington, DC, May 27- June 1, 2018.

E-mail Lori Zahradka, lori.zahradka@k12.nd.us, for additional information.


The Walsh County Spelling Bee was held on Thursday, February 15, 2018 in the Farmers Room at the Walsh County Courthouse in Grafton. The spelling bee lasted ten rounds, and students spelled words such as contagious, despondency, and flabbergasted correctly.

Kelvin Cooper, son of Joey Cooper and Rebeca Carr, representing Fordville-Lankin School, placed 1st. Fordville-Lankin students are coached by Mr. Larry Grossman. Hannah Miller, daughter of David and Sara Miller, representing Grafton Schools, placed 2nd. Alex Sillers, son of Nathan and Tiffany Sillers, representing Grafton Schools, received Honorable Mention. Grafton students are coached by Miss Elizabeth Pilon.

Other participants representing Walsh County schools ranging from grades 5 – 8 included: Sydney Kerner and Ezequiel Lopez representing Grafton Schools; Elizabeth Nice, Madi Jo Altendorf, Paige Goodsell and Deidra Flanders representing Minto School; and Ella Johnson, Faith Cosio, Sierra Schramm and Sophia Markusen representing Park River Area School. Park River Area students are coached by Miss Haley Ulland. Pronouncer was Dana Tisdale; judges were Sheryl and Bill Jahraus; and bee coordinator was Lori Zahradka.

The top two spellers from Walsh County are eligible to participate in the State Spelling Bee on March 26 in Bismarck. The North Dakota Association of County Superintendents sponsors the State Spelling Bee. The State Bee is affiliated with the Scripps National Spelling Bee which will be held near Washington, DC, May 29 - 31, 2018.