Twelve young spellers line up and get ready for the Nemaha Central Spelling Bee.

On Friday, January 6, twelve students participated in the annual Nemaha Central School Spelling Bee at the Nemaha Central Elementary and Middle School gym. Excited students and proud parents came to watch as the spellers rattled off word after word, one letter at a time.  The students chosen for the school spelling bee had to finish at the top of their class to move to the school competition.  Next, the top 5 from the school spelling bee had the opportunity to attend the county spelling bee.

Heston Kramer, Will Martin, and Ava Madrid led the fifth grade, while Anna Jost, Bryce Weber, and Jayla Nolte came from the sixth. The seventh grade, represented by Kyleah Bstandig, Xavier Haverkamp, and Lena Hynek, faced off against the eighth grade headed by Alex Burkitt, Tyler Nolte, & Caleb Hynek. In fact, there were two brother-sister duos in the bee: Lena and Caleb Hynek & Jayla and Tyler Nolte. It was a close match, and after seven rounds, only two spellers remained: Caleb Hynek & Tyler Nolte, both getting further than each other’s siblings. They both put on a good show, but Nolte walked away with the victory. His final word was “Andean."

“It was really fun,” commented Ava Madrid.

On the Saturday morning of January 21, the Nemaha County Spelling Bee occurred at the Nemaha County Community Building. Tyler Nolte and Will Martin represented Nemaha Central and spelled against 14 other spellers from Sabetha Middle School, Centralia Schools, and Sts. Peter & Paul in Seneca. After eight rounds, Nolte was able to finish in first place. His winning word was “Alhambra.” Second place was secured by Isaac Schmid from Sabetha, and third place was won by Reed Toedman, also from Sabetha.

“It was tough,” Tyler said, “but I’m glad I was able to get the win.”

Tyler, son of Jeremy & Suzanne Nolte, will represent Nemaha County at the state spelling bee in March at Wichita’s Newman University.

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