Brooke Escott won 1st in the county Spelling Bee last week. She is pictured alongside 2nd place winner Shiloh Stiegelmeier and 3rd place winner Cole Draine in the picture above. Also pictured are contest pronouncer Pam Nisley and judges Tom Herzog, Corey Swenson, and John Blain. (Photos courtesy Molly Lloyd)

The local Spelling Bee, as well as a first of its kind Geography Bee, were held on March 14th at the high school auditorium.

Brooke Escott, Broadus 8th grader, won the event by spelling the word "vague". Shiloh Stiegelmeier placed 2nd, while 3rd place went to Broadus 5th grader Cole Draine.

Pam Nisley pronounced the words for the contestants. Judges included Tom Herzog, Corey Swenson and John Blain. Lisa Gaskill was the Official Spelling Recorder, and Donna Giacometto served as Crowd Monitor.

Teams compete in the Geography Bee.

The Geography Bee consisted of a team event featuring teams from 5th through 8th grade competing to answer questions.

The 5th grade team of Cole Draine, Hazel Kinzer and Macey Emmons placing first. The 2nd place team was the 8th grade contingent featuring Bonita Kinzer, Emma Strackbein and Chris Oylear, and 3rd place went to the 4th grade team of Griffin Gardner, Cody Draine and Charles Hartman.

The judges were John Blain, Corey Swenson and Tom Herzog Proctors were Lisa Gaskill and Donna Giacometto and Pam Nisley was the slide show operator.

Event Organizer Molly Lloyd noted the audience even enjoyed answering some questions when asked, and the Spelling and Geography Bee was a fun time for all.