The Donald H. Humphreys Barton County Spelling Bee is slated for Saturday, Feb. 18 at the Great Bend High School Auditorium.
Those who attend the event regularly will note that this year’s bee is scheduled for 9 a.m., an hour earlier than in past years, said Great Bend Kiwanis Club President Jay Luerman, chairing the bee for the first time.
Luerman said the event has been expanded to include 12 schools in the county, with Holy Family School in Great Bend and Hoisington Middle School added to the competition this year.
Since 1981, the Great Bend Kiwanis Club has sponsored the Barton County event, even though the contest extends as far back as the 1930s. The Barton County Bee is named for Donald H. Humphreys, a past president of the Great Bend club and Lt. Governor of the Kansas Kiwanis organization, who passed away in 2008. Among his many contributions to the Great Bend community, Humphreys was a wordsmith and passionate speller who coordinated the spelling bee for many years.
The winner and alternate will advance to the Sunflower State Spelling Bee March 25 at Newman University in Wichita.
The contestants
The 12 school champions and runners-up slated to attend next Saturday’s event are as follows:
Hoisington Middle School
Samantha Lovett, seventh grade, and Monroe Walker, eighth grade
Great Bend Middle School
Keelan Browne, eighth grade, and Parker Coleman, eighth grade
Lincoln Elementary, Hoisington
Rose Thomas, fourth grade, and Matias Garcia Smith, fifth grade
Central Kansas Christian Academy
Emma Meahm, sixth grade, and Honore Ajuoh Ngam, sixth grade
Ellinwood Elementary
Henry Grossardt, fourth grade, and Brogyn Garrett, fifth grade
St. Joseph Catholic, Ellinwood
Addilyn Joiner, fourth grade, and Lexi Steele, seventh grade
Lincoln Elementary, Great Bend
Janey Weber, fifth grade, and Kensington Coleman, fifth grade
Eisenhower Elementary, Great Bend
Evan Mason, sixth grade, and Madilynn Win, fourth grade
Riley Elementary, Great Bend
Sebastian Quezada, sixth grade, and Christian Garcia, fifth grade
Park Elementary, Great Bend
Devin Olivas, sixth grade, and Taycee Gray, fifth grade
Jefferson Elementary, Great Bend
Gideon McCarty, sixth grade, and Amelia Baskerville, fifth grade
Holy Family, Great Bend
Lukas Haselhorst, fourth grade, and Bryson Their, fifth grade
