NIKI TURNER photo
Thirty-one Meeker Elementary School first through fifth graders competed in the school’s annual spelling bee on Thursday, Feb. 8. This year’s spelling bee champion is fifth-grader Samantha Patton. The words presented were from the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee and were available to students to study and practice before the competition. This year’s competitors made it through 231 of the 450-word list. In the final round, the competition came down to Patton and classmate Xander Borchard for several rounds. Borchard eventually misspelled “fragrant,” which Patton spelled correctly, leaving her to correctly spell the final word to take the 2024 spelling bee championship title. This year’s winning word was “saucer.” Patton is now eligible for the next level of competition.
