Fairland student wins county spelling bee

Elementary and middle school students faced off Wednesday in the annual Lawrence County Spelling Bee in the Ironton Municipal Court chambers.

This year’s winner was Emily Ferguson, of Fairland West Elementary, who won by successfully spelling the word “tatami.”

A tatami is a type of mat used as a flooring in Japanese-style rooms.

The runner up was John Tyler, of Chesapeake, and last year’s runner up, Danielle Leonard,  of Ironton Elementary School, came in third place.

The bee was sponsored by the Lawrence County Educational Service Center and was open to fourth through eighth grades.

Each competitor was already the winner of the bee at their individual schools and, as a result, they are all eligible to take an online test to compete in the regional bee at Ohio University in Athens in the spring.

Leonard competed in the regional’s last year, along with Hannah McKenzie of South Point.

Julie Walters, student services coordinator for the ESC,  said there are more regional academic events planned.

The ESC will sponsor the middle school quiz bowl tournament in January and the high school Ironmaster competition in March. Both take place at Ohio University Southern in the Bowman Auditorium.

The county science fair will take place Feb. 1 at Ironton Middle School.