VFL board member Bill Loyd of Piedmont College (left) and Habersham County School Superintendent Matthew Cooper present Wills with her prize check for winning the 2015 county Scripps Spelling Bee.
Grace Wills is Habersham County’s new spelling bee champion!
The North Habersham Middle School 7th grader took top honors last night during the Habersham County Scripps Spelling Bee in Mt. Airy. Wills outlasted ten other middle and elementary school spellers to win. She claimed the championship title in just under 45 minutes by correctly spelling the word d-o-u-b-l-o-o-n-s. Demorest 4th grader Jayson Bentley was runner-up.
Both Wills and Bentley received trophies and cash prizes. Wills received $100 and Bentley $50 from Now Habersham.
Wills says she spent lots of time preparing for the bee and describes her experience on stage as, “Very nerve-racking, but worth it in the end.” She now advances to the next round of competition with a chance to go on to the state and national finals. Bentley will serve as alternate in the event Wills is unable to compete.
Baldwin – Alarrika McMillan; Clarkesville – Autumn Fry; Cornelia – Joseph Aguilar; Demorest – Jayson Bentley; Fairview – Jamie Gant; Hazel Grove – Luke Atwood; Level Grove – Brady Edwards; Woodville – Hayden Hulsey; Wilbanks – Kayli Bongolan; North Habersham – Grace Wills; South Habersham – Nevaja Brown.
Spelling bees have a reputation for being slow and methodical but the young Bentley turned that notion on its head last night with rapid fire responses to every word he was given to spell. He says he was able to do that because he studied with his parents. His father Carey Bentley could hardly contain his excitement, “I was just ecstatic. To see him get up there and not be nervous and just come out and spell the word. It’s just awesome and great to see that as a parent.” As for the prize money, Bentley says he plans to use it to open up a college fund.
All of the school-level winners and alternates were awarded trophies last night in recognition of their impressive academic achievement. Volunteers for Literacy of Habersham County (VFL) purchased the trophies and paid registration fees for all eleven schools to compete. The non-profit, United Way agency sponsors the annual spelling bee championship in partnership with the Habersham Association of Educators (HAE).
Piedmont College Vice-President for Institutional Advancement and VFL board member Bill Loyd served as pronouncer for the evening. He was joined on stage at the Habersham Central High School auditorium by judges Robin Skelton of HAE and the Habersham Success Academy and Chastity Adams of North Habersham Middle School.
For more pictures from last night’s spelling bee visit vflhabersham.com.
