By John Wood
Bear Creek, NC – 56 spellers from grades K-8 were invited to Chatham Central High School Wednesday night for the 2024 Chatham County Schools’ District Spelling Bee. Four spellers from each K-8 school placed 1st-4th at their individual school spelling bee qualifiers, and were then invited to the district spelling bee at CCHS.
After about two hours of intense competition, the final field was set. George Moses Horton Middle’s Helen Moose, Moncure’s Ivan Luis Ramirez and Juliet Antley, North Chatham Elementary’s Andrew Brondon, and Perry Harrison Elementary’s Beatrice Allen qualified for the final round.
2024 Chatham County Spelling Bell participants
Here is how the overall places were determined.
Moose and Brondon qualified for the 1st place round, after Allen, Antley, and Ramirez misspelled their words.
Brondon then misspelled quid pro quo
Moose spelled Yorkshire correctly, and then spelled asthmatic to clinch 1st place overall, with Brondon finishing in 2nd place.
Ramirez, Allen, and Antley qualified for the 3rd place round
Allen misspelled turgor, while Ramirez correctly spelled bittern, and Antley spelled phenotype to go on to compete for 3rd place.
After an additional four rounds, Ramirez misspelled ulna
Antley spelled bango correctly, and then spelled Corinthian to clinch 3rd place overall.
Helen Moose, a Horton fifth grader, will represent Chatham County Schools in the Carolina Panthers North Carolina Regional Spelling Bee at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on March 17. If for some reason Ms. Moose cannot attend the Charlotte regional, Andrew Brondon will compete in her place.
Here is a list of every invited speller and their respective school:
Bennett
Hadley Frye
Emerson Scott
Harper Scott
Averie Scott
Bonlee
Carson Gaines
Michael Clark
Landon Harvey
Collin Palmer
Chatham Grove Elementary
Scarlett Gent
Matthew Sherman
Elie Kedagni
Joy Forester
Chatham Middle
Sergio Vargas
Vicente Martinez
Morgan Brooks
Joseph Barrera
George Moses Horton Middle
Helen Moose – OVERALL FIRST PLACE
Nico Triglianos
Matthew Ferrin
Ashleigh Trombley
JS Waters
Charlee Hart
Ben O’Hare
Na’Ziya Brim
Alyssa Stout
Margaret B Pollard Middle
Kaylee Slough
Micah DeBolt
Zoe Hayes
Caroline Brown
Moncure
Hailie Rodriguez
Lydia Smith
Ivan Luis Ramirez – MADE IT TO FINAL ROUND
Juliet Antley – OVERALL THIRD PLACE
North Chatham Elementary
Sydney Wolfe
Sophie Jozwiak
Robert Pena Sequera
Andrew Brondon – OVERALL SECOND PLACE
Perry W. Harrison Elementary
Beatrice Allen – MADE IT TO FINAL ROUND
Jael Jo
Eleanor Lanigan
Iris Jacobs
Pittsboro Elementary
Sullivan Belford
Valaria Duran Touma
Jeronia Tawdrous
Alivia Zawada
Siler City Elementary
Sophia Aguila
Zayden McSwain
Lanabellah Spainhour
Sean Soria Mora
Silk Hope
Sophie Lukomski
Joel Garner
Zurie Stovall
Jaxon Dixon
Virginia Cross Elementary
Kaelyn Montiel Vargas
Darlicia White
Kevin Archila Sandoval
Alex Newby