2018

Peter O’Carroll, a fifth grader at Mambrino School, won the Area Spelling Bee held February 7, 2018, at the Granbury ISD Administration Building. 

O’Carroll and Kaylee Kirkland, a seventh grader at Granbury Middle School, battled for 27 rounds before he emerged the victor on the word ”frolic.” 

The area contest pitted campus-level winners from seven Granbury campuses and also from Lipan.  Other competitors were:  Tate Branson, Lipan Elementary School; Spencer Burnfield, seventh grader at Acton Middle School; Erin Chenault, fourth grader at Baccus Elementary School; Preston Kirkland, fourth grader at Brawner Intermediate School; Glenn Mercado, fifth grader at Acton Elementary School; Judah Turner, fourth grader at Oak Woods School. 

Burnfield, Chenault, Preston Kirkland, and O’Carroll were all area finalists last year. Burnfield is a five-time campus winner at AES and AMS and was the area champion for the past two years.

As the Hood County area champion, O’Carroll will advance to the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee scheduled for March 1 at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.  That contest will feature more than thirty contestants who won at the area level.  The regional winner will have an opportunity to compete in the national competition to be held in Washington, D.C. in May. 

The campus and district spelling bees were open to all students under the age of sixteen who had not passed beyond the eighth grade. 

Pictured are (left to right) Preston Kirkland, Spencer Burnfield, Erin Chenault, Glenn Mercado, Peter O’Carroll, Tate Branson, and Kaylee Kirkland. Not pictured is Judah Turner.