Beech Tree News Network

On Thursday, February 16th, the district-level spelling bee was held at the Butler County Educational Complex. The three contestants were:  Kari McClelland, a  5th grader at North Butler Elementary and daughter of Kurt and Tammy McClelland from Morgantown; Mattie Wells,  a 4th grader at Morgantown Elementary and daughter of Shane and Felicia Wells of Rochester; and  Sara Santilli,  an 8th grader at Butler County Middle School and daughter of Mario and Michelle Santilli of Morgantown.

The event began at 6 p.m. with the reading of the official rules and three practice rounds to get the contestants accustomed to adjusting the height of the microphone.  Mattie Wells was eliminated in the first round; Sara Santilli misspelled a word following the first elimination.  However, due to the rules of the spelling bee, Santilli had to wait to see if the other participant got the next word correct - she didn't.  The next round saw both remaining participants correctly spell their words.  Finally, Kari McClelland proved to be victorious in the final round.

Upon winning, McClelland was presented a certificate by Butler County School Superintendent Scott Howard.  The superintendent congratulated McClelland, wishing her the best at the statewide competition.