GALION — Galion Intermediate and Middle School students competed in a district-wide spelling to determine who would represent Galion City Schools in this year’s Crawford County Spelling Bee. When the dust settled, six students earned the privilege of representing the Tigers in the county competition at William Crawford Intermediate School on Thursday, Jan. 12

The first exercise was a spelling test given to third-grade students eighth-grade students in the district. The top spellers in each grade level were recognized in their respective building. The top spellers in each grade level included: Third Grade – Paige Beach; Logan Estep and Samuel Estep; Fourth Grade – Makayla Crockett, Isabella Lewis and Ella Steele; Fifth Grade –Ben Rinehart, Autumn Mullins and Wyatt Estep; Sixth Grade – Amanda Harvey, Ethan Amick and Micah Brown; Seventh Grade – Grayden Pierce, Regin Kuehlman and Carson Teynor; and Eighth Grade – Andy Smith, Sariann McFarland, Hannah Daniels, Jessica Balliett, Tim Schlosser and Sydney Ryland.

“Congratulations to all students in the Galion Intermediate and Middle Schools who performed well in the initial round of spelling tests,” Gifted Coordinator Leanna Ferreira said. “Moving into higher spelling bee competitions requires students to move from memorizing a list to learning the rules behind spelling.”

Following grade-level spelling tests, students were given a district-wide spelling test. From this competition, six Galion students were invited to compete in next week’s Crawford County Spelling Bee: Makayla Crockett (4th Grade), Ben Rinehart (5th Grade), Autumn Mullins (5th Grade), Grayden Pierce (7th Grade), Andy Smith (8th Grade) and Sariann McFarland (8th Grade). In addition Ben Rinehart and Grayden Pierce were selected to represent Galion in the Scripps Online Spelling Bee, which serves as the first step in the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition.

“I want to commend our students for their great performance in the various spelling bee exercises and competitions, and say thank you to the staff and parents who helped prepare these students,” said Superintendent Jim Grubbs. “I am excited to see how the district’s Crawford County Spelling Bee representatives perform against students from the area.

“I speak for the entire district when I say good luck to Grayden and Ben!”