Sabetha Middle School seventh-grade student Isaac Schmid claimed the top spot in the 2022 PTO Spelling Bee held Friday, Jan. 7, after successfully spelling the championship word “crawling.” Schmid competed against 20 other Sabetha spellers in grades fifth through eighth.

Two spellers were eliminated during the first round, four during the second round and eight during the third round. Heading into round four, only six spellers remained – Schmid; sixth graders Reed Toedman and Gideon Meyer; seventh graders Jayce Rebant and Josiah Richardson; and eighth grader Naomi Pearson. Meyer was eliminated in round four on the word “morbidity.”

Round five saw the competition get narrowed down to two spellers – Schmid and Rebant. Pearson was eliminated on the word “pallid;” Toedman was eliminated on the word “moppet;” and Richardson was eliminated on the word “padre.”

The top two spellers went back and forth through another six rounds, before Rebant incorrectly spelled “bulldoze.” Schmid correctly spelled “bulldoze” and then, “crawling” for the win.

“The spelling bee went very well!” said coordinator Sheri Edelman. “A big thank you to our great judges and pronouncer!”

Judges for this year’s spelling bee were Betty Hecht, Von Lauer and Virginia Sylvester. Pronouncer was Hannah Dettwyler.

Top bee

Schmid has participated at the school Bee previously, however, this will be his first visit to the County Bee, and while he is proud, he is also nervous.

“I studied for the spelling bee for two nights, and I plan to study for the County Bee,” Schmid said. “I’m very proud [about winning the Sabetha PTO spelling bee], but I’m also nervous to go on to the County Bee.

Schmid said the easiest word for him to spell was “throes.”

“I practiced that word [throes] with my family a few nights before,” Schmid said.

Schmid also said the hardest word was “Montmorency.”

Nemaha County Bee

The top five spellers will compete at the Nemaha County Spelling Bee at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 22, at the Nemaha County Community Building in Seneca. The alternate date will be Saturday, Jan. 29. Schmid, Toedman, Rebant, Richardson and Pearson will all represent Sabetha at the Nemaha County Bee.

Classroom Winners

Classroom winners qualifying for this year’s PTO Spelling Bee were:

Eighth grade: Kenton Farwell, Charles Lukert, Naomi Pearson, Samantha Schultejans and Korbyn Stinnett. Alternates were Isabelle Scoby and Abigail Whittaker.

Seventh grade: Lincoln Menold, Hector Padilla, Jayce Rebant, Josiah Richardson and Isaac Schmid. Alternate was Trinity Meyer.

Sixth grade: Hadden Bachelor, Colton Delome, Collin Montgomery, Abigail Porter and Reed Toedman. Alternate was Gideon Meyer.

Fifth grade: Emmett Kroll, Emrie Niehues, Josie Joy, Kallie Kellenberger, Sofie Gutknecht and Brantley Bunck. Alternates were Tyson Detweiler, Easton Renyer and Hudson Scoby.

Top classroom spellers for kindergarten through fourth grade were:

Fourth grade: Hunter Keim, Eva Niehues and Eli Rebant;

Third grade: Stratton Boldra, Cali Koch and Autumn Lang;

Second grade: Liam Carlson, Beckett Lang and Colby Renyer;

First grade: Drew Fahey, Madelyn Gick, Lanae Metzger and Charlee Ploeger;

Kindergarten: Isaiah Baumgartner, Advay Bhatteja, Isaiah Deters and Tracen Kaeb.