MANSFIELD — Charlie Yoakam of Stingel Elementary School took the top prize in this year’s Richland County Third Grade Spelling Bee. The winning word was canteen.
Yoakam battled it out for several rounds with Aire’yanah Jones of St. Peter’s Elementary School, the second-place winner. Third place went to Adylynn Copley, also a Stingel Elementary School student.
This year’s bee took place Feb. 17 at Madison Middle School.
The Bible says in Proverbs 22:6 “Bring up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it,” so Father Kevin Moebuis opened with prayer.
For Linda Burrage, a retired substitute teacher, training a child also means fostering a love of literacy early in life. Burrage founded the Richland County Third Grade Spelling Bee while working as a substitute teacher in the Mansfield City School district.
She hopes the event will encourage an interest in literacy and help students prepare for 3rd grade state testing. She also wanted to create an event that could bring families and the community together.
“The spelling bee isn’t about winning or losing. It’s about literacy, community building and fostering the successful futures of these students,” Burrage said.
“This spelling bee is a community event. Put God first, family second because charity (love) begins at home and spreads abroad and community third place. With all three of these working together you can not go wrong.”
Ms. Ginny Corso, Mr. Christopher Brown, Mrs. Beth Owens, Mrs. Tonia Welker and Mr. Winston Greene served as judges.
Refreshments were donated by Meijer Department Store and the Jones Potato Chip Company.
The students gifts, certificates, tee-shirts, dictionaries, etc. were made possible through donations from local banks, churches, unions, business and other organizations. Every student in the spelling bee received a gift bag.
