Ellsworth Jr./Sr.

High School eighth grade student Jace Thomasson can one day tell his children exactly what he did on his 14th birthday March 15.

He won the 2023 Ellsworth County Spelling Bee in the school’s Performing Arts Center.

Thomasson out spelled 47 other students from EJSHS, Kanopolis Middle School, Wilson School and Central Plains Elementary School, Holyrood.

By correctly spelling the word modular, he earned a medal, an Amazon Kindle and the chance to represent Ellsworth County at the Sunflower State Spelling Bee March 25 at Newman University, Wichita.

“I feel good,” Thomasson said after the bee concluded. “My sister, Allie, won a couple of years ago, and it’s nice to have something on her now.”

Thomasson said he looks forward to competing at the state bee.

“I’m very excited,” he said.

Seventh grader Landon McCarter from Wilson School placed second, sixth grader Zoey Schneider of CPES placed third, fourth grader Otto Bogner of CPES placed fourth and eighth grader Reygan Coonrod of EJSHS placed fifth.

Each received a medal. “It’s a great thing for the kids,” Ellsworth County Spelling Bee Coordinator Kristi Rodriguez said. “It brings kids together from all over the county. It’s something that has some tradition, and it’s a great program.”

Rodriguez, who is also principal at KMS, said as with any competition, the students competing learn perseverance.

“They know if they want to qualify for state, they’ve got to put the time in and prepare, very similar to other competitions,” she said.

Rodriguez said students who compete commonly talk beforehand about how nervous they are at first to be on stage in front of everyone, but as the bee proceeds, they get more comfortable.

“It teaches them a lot of different things,” she said. “It teaches them stage presence; it gives them confidence.”

USD 327 School Board President Cynthia Edgerle served as moderator for the bee, and Bill Parsons and Janese Base were judges.