Local middle schoolers put their spelling skills to the test Saturday morning, at the annual Allen County Educational Service Center spelling bee.
This the 29th year that the bee has been held, with 17 area schools participating. Each student competed for a place in the upcoming Lima News Regional Spelling Bee in March. Organizers say participating in a spelling bee shows that the student has spent a good amount of time learning.
"I’ve always believed that if you can spell that means you’ve done a lot of reading, and you’ve seen words spelled correctly, so those that participate at this level at the county championship are often the best readers, and anytime that you’re a good reader, you do a lot of reading, then you’re taking in a lot of knowledge," said Steve Arnold, superintendent of the Allen County Educational Service Center.
The winner of the spelling bee was Delaney Brinkman, an 8th grader from Shawnee Middle School.
