Parlier wins County Spelling Bee
By ANGELA FARR KING
The Alexander County Spelling Bee was held on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, at the Alexander Central Auditorium. Participants included the top two spellers from each elementary school and each middle school in the county.
The winner for this year’s spelling bee was Addison Parlier, an eighth grader from West Alexander Middle School. Addison had to spell two words correctly back-to-back to win the bee. She spelled “ricochet” and “symmetrical” correctly for the win.
The runner-up was Jace Foster, a fourth grader from Bethlehem Elementary School. The final word that Jace spelled correctly was “marionette.”
RUNNER-UP — Above, Bethlehem Elementary School student Jace Foster was runner-up in the 2023 Alexander County Schools Spelling Bee.
Ms. Cristi Julsrud led the competition as pronouncer by calling out words, sentences, and definitions. She is an English teacher at Alexander Central High School.
The judges were Ms. Andrea Robinette, Director of Federal Programs, Testing and Accountability, Dr. Alisha Cloer, Director of Human Resources, and Ms. Crystal Hoke, Director of Career and Technical Education. Dr. Jennifer Hefner, Superintendent of Alexander County Schools, attended to hand out the awards and congratulate the students.
COUNTY SPELLING BEE PARTICIPANTS — Shown above are the 2023 Alexander County Schools Spelling Bee participants, left to right: front row – Kreighton Hicks (Taylorsville), Tripp Taylor (Bethlehem), winner Addison Parlier (WAMS), runner-up Jace Foster (Bethlehem), and Holden Vick (Hiddenite); middle row – Molly Starnes (Ellendale), Guadalupe Galarza Perez (Alexander Virtual Academy), Addisyn Byers (Stony Point), Natalie Dionicio Silva (Stony Point), Natalie Cain (Taylorsville), and Liam Hollingsworth (Sugar Loaf); back row – Sebastian Atkinson (Wittenburg), Sophia Evertson (Wittenburg), Kendall Jenkins (Sugar Loaf), Emma Renteria (Hiddenite), Malachi Bennett (WAMS), Cason Honeycutt (Ellendale), and Donny Meese (EAMS). Not pictured: Kylie Solomon (Alexander Virtual Academy) and Emery Miller (EAMS).
