Assumption School’s two-time ‘bee’ winner advances to regionals

Bee later this year.

The Assumption “Bee,” which influences students in gaining knowledge in spelling and vocabulary, took place on Jan. 31, at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church during Catholic Schools Week. Finalists in grades four-through-eight displayed their skills while seated in front of the entire school body, parents and family friends. Teachers Tere Bowman, Haley McHugh and Jeni Willis officiated the competition, which has been a nationwide tradition for nearly 90 years in the making.

This year’s Assumption School finalists consist of the following students:

• Fourth grade students: Cooper Gonzalez and Emma Sicking

• Fifth grade students: David Smith and Liam Underwood

• Sixth grade students: Meg McCulloch and Easton Miller

• Seventh grade students: Sam Illy and Sam Molitor

For a second year in a row, Assumption Catholic School in O’Fallon crowns David Smith the annual Spelling Bee Champion. The accomplished fifth-grader will advance to the regional qualifier March 25, at Saint Louis University, in hopes to compete with the best of the best at the 2023 Scripps National Spelling

• Eighth grade students: Grant Giesmann, Ethan Koenig, and Audrey Meyer

In traditional spelldown fashion, while competing against 10 of his fellow schoolmates, Smith clinched the first-place win after spelling the word “Urad” correctly in the 13th round. Sam Illy took second place

Liberty High School yearbook staff named National Peacemaker Award finalists

and Grant Giesmann third place for Assumption. Each of the winners received medals for their accomplishments.

Smith will go on to compete in the regional completion next month. If he wins the championship there, he will advance to the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee that will take place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. On May 28, more than 200 spellers from across the country and around the world will arrive in the Washington, D.C., area.

The Liberty High School (LHS) 2023 Talon yearbook staff became finalists for a 2022 National Pacemaker Award announced by the National Scholastic Press Association on Dec. 7. Only three schools from Missouri were finalists among 44 schools across the nation.

“This is a big achievement for these students, being finalists for the first time in Liberty history,” said Jonathan Hall, publications and yearbook adviser. “They’re a passionate, hard-working group who work well together. They have taken ownership of their program and it’s truly a student-led operation. That’s what I’m most proud of.”

The National Pacemaker Awards are awarded for excellence in American student journalism, given annually since 1927. The awards are generally considered to be the highest national honors in their field, and are unofficially known as the “Pulitzer Prizes of student journalism.”

The Talon staff will find out what place they rank at the National Journalism conference in San Francisco in April.