Perry Middle School eighth grader Leigh Stavar recently took top prize in this year’s district spelling bee.

Stavar, who has competed in the bee for the past five years, won in the 18th round. Words she spelled correctly include cleanser, igneous, stucco, pueblo, temporal, diagnosis and trauma. She won by spelling the word angelic, according to a Perry Local Schools press release.

Runner-up in the Perry bee was fourth grader Nikhita Goel. It was Goel’s first time entering the bee. She correctly spelled words like layette, hazard, stipple and vibrato.

Other participants included fourth graders, Ethan Hicks and Cameron Marsey; fifth graders, Jack Schultz, Bradley Peters and Mateo Aguirre; sixth graders, Chrissy Schveder, Crystal Miller and Melinda Kirk; seventh graders, Amanda Schueren, Autumn Graham and Olivia Flauto; and eighth graders, Kirk Hodkinson and Brandon Horton, according to the release.

In February, Stavar will compete against other Lake County district bee winners at Auburn Career Center. The winner there will move onto the Tri-County Bee, from which the top speller will travel to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

--Elizabeth Lundblad, Lake County Education Reporter
Twitter: @NewsHLiz