2012

Area Spelling Bee - February 16, 2012

Christian McClain, a seventh grader at Granbury Middle School, won the 2012 Area Spelling Bee held February 16, 2012, reclaiming the title that he had won twice before.

The contest pitted campus-level winners from seven Granbury campuses. McClain and runner-up Rayni Skaggs, a sixth grader at Acton Middle School, battled for nine rounds before he emerged the victor.

Other competitors were: Elias Best, fifth grader at Baccus Elementary School (competing at the area level for the second-straight year); Lyndee Childes, fifth grader at Acton Elementary School; Jaden Couto, fourth grader at Brawner Intermediate School; and Luke Graham, fourth grader at Oak Woods School;

Though he did not advance to the area round in 2011, McClain was the champion in both 2009 and 2010, when he was was a fourth grader at Oak Woods Intermediate School and a fifth grader at Acton Elementary School.

As the Hood County area champion, McClain will advance to the Star-Telegram Regional Spelling Bee scheduled for March 7 at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. That contest will feature 33 contestants who won at the area level. The regional winner will have an opportunity to compete at 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 above are this year's area competitors: back - Rayni Skaggs, Lyndee Chiles, Jordan Clack, Christian McClain; front - Jaden Couto, Luke Graham, Elias Best.