Four Spelling Bee Champs Headed to State Match

Two Santa Barbara County elementary school students and two junior high school students will head to state spelling bee competitions this spring after taking the top spots at the county’s own bee, held on Thursday.

Sixth grade Montessori Center student Camille Cheng won first place in the elementary school division for her mastery of the word “enmity.” Coming in right behind her was Kellogg School sixth-grader Wesley Lin, who correctly spelled “extraterrestrial.” In the junior high match, La Colina Junior High seventh-grader Emily Vesper earned her spot with “blithesome” and will be joined by second-place winner Alexandra Thompson, a student at St. Louis de Montfort School in Santa Maria.

Cheng and Lin will head to the state’s elementary-level competition in Stockton on April 18. Vesper and Thompson will wordsmith in the junior high match on May 2 in San Rafael.