Montross Middle School eighth grader, Brielle Hall, took the stage and correctly spelled her way to another year of victory at the annual Westmoreland County Public Schools District Spelling Bee. It took six rounds before the winner was declared. At the end of the evening, Brielle Hall sealed her victory by spelling correctly the final word of the night, “antlers.” Dr. Michael Perry, Superintendent, presented Ms. Hall with a “Free-Lance Star” dictionary for her accomplishment. Dr. Perry asked each of the competing spelling champions to come to the stage for a final recognition and bow before the proud and cheering audience.
Ms. Hall will now prepare for the regional contest in Fredericksburg. An honor roll student at Montross Middle School, she is the daughter of I’asha Hall, a teacher at Westmoreland High School.
The Spelling Bee school winners for 2024 were Cople Elementary; first grade, Payton Tulloss (alternate, Kayden Orozco-Ochoa); second grade, Talena Bowen (alternate, Jessica Ross), third grade, Jordan Ebanks (alternate, Sophia Romeo), fourth grade, Joba Wilson, (alternate, Mckinlee Wright) and fifth grade, Bentley Wheeler (alternate, Haven Sudduth)). The first grade winner and alternate and the third grade alternate were not present at the meet.
Washington District champions were; first grade, Elizabeth Newman, (alternate, Adalaide Sprouse.), second grade, Reign Gray (alternate, Cassidy McKenney), third grade, Emory Townsend (alternate, Carter Gaines), fourth grade, Mya Cooper, (alternate, Cheyenne Charlton), and fifth grade, Gavin Groves (alternate, Jason Schaber). The fourth grade winner was not present at the meet. The alternate Cheyenne Charlton participated. The first and second grade alternates were not present.
Montross Middle School was represented by sixth grade, Ryan Gould (alternate, Marley Davis), seventh grade, Ja’Miesha Hall (alternate, Makayla Smith), and eighth grade, Brielle Hall (alternate, Joshua Morgan). The seventh grade winner and alternate for the seventh grade were not present at the meet.
The event was coordinated by Carole Alexander, Director of Testing & Data. The spelling bee announcer was Julie Weicht, Director of Curriculum. Judges included Carole Washington, Special Education Director, Cathy Rice, Deputy Superintendent, and Patty Kelly Long, Public Relations Specialist. School coordinators were Cople, Holly Angel, assistant principal; Washington District, Dr. Dawn Tyler, assistant principal; and Montross Middle, Meghan Smith, assistant principal.
We congratulate all of our champions who so admirably represented their prospective schools. The Westmoreland County Public Schools Spelling Bee was sponsored by The Free-Lance Star of Fredericksburg, Virginia.