Bee leads Hanna student to state

Carbon County School District No. 2 students brought home trophies along with new experiences after competing in the Carbon County Spelling Bee Wednesday in Rawlins.

The spelling bee was the largest it had ever been, said the bee’s coordinator Stacey Peres.

The bee had competitors from almost every school in Carbon County School districts No. 1 and No. 2 including Saratoga, who were first-time participants in the four-year-old event, Peres said.

Saratoga brought three competitors, two fifth graders and one seventh grader. No one from Saratoga placed in the bee, but all three students said they are optimistic for next year.

Competitors from Hanna Elementary School (HES) and Hanna-Elk Mountain-Medicine Bow Junior/Senior High School (HEM) brought home trophies this year, with one third grader placing first in her age group and one seventh grader placing second overall.

“I am very proud of how they did,” HES teacher Wendy Phillips said. “I thought HES and HEM was represented very well today.”

Shayanna Gaston took second overall in the Carbon County spelling bee and placed first in the seventh-grade division.

Third grader Jonna Niemark snagged first place in the third-grade division. This was her first time ever competing in a spelling bee, she said.

Gaston will represent HEM at the state spelling bee March 9 and 10 at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs.

“I feel excited, but I feel very scared for state,” Gaston said.

The winner of the state bee will move onto the national spelling bee in May in Washington D.C.

The success of the Hanna students didn’t come easy, Gaston said.

“It takes practice,” she said. “You have to study a lot.”

Although Gaston, Hunter and Niemark thank their teachers and instructors for their success, the students worked a lot on their own after school.

“We didn’t practice at all, together. We had to practice on our own,” HEM student and spelling bee competitor Cheyenne Hunter said.

Every night for several months, Gaston would study a list of words to prepare for the spelling bee. Hunter also studied every night writing each word from the list three times on a sheet of paper.

“It’s totally on their own time,” the team’s coach Phyllis McKee said. “It’s an after school thing, so they have to dedicate themselves to work at school and at home. They really have to have the desire to do it.”

Phillips said all the Hanna students who participated in the bee showed great discipline and dedication, especially Niemark.

“She went the extra mile,” Phillips said. “She would literally take the spelling list outside in the snow and study.”

Although Niemark did not get the opportunity to go to the state spelling bee this year, she will have several more opportunities in the future, if she continues to compete in the Carbon County Spelling Bee.

“The spelling bee gives a lot of potential for the younger ones coming up to the high school,” Hunter said. “I feel that in a few years or so we should be getting first in the county bee and hopefully a place in the state bee as well.”