Hannah McKenzie probably has a new favorite flower.

For the South Point Middle School student to win the top spot in the 2018 Lawrence County Spelling Bee, she had to correctly spell “gardenia” and she did.

It’s been a long run for McKenzie. She has come close in the past four years, placing in the top four and top five in previous Lawrence County Spelling Bees and competing in the regional spelling bee at Ohio University in Athens. But this year was different because, as an eighth grader, this was her last year to compete.

We congratulate McKenzie on her victory and hope that she does well if she qualifies the regional bee in March. If she wins there, she can compete this spring at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

We have high hopes for McKenzie and support her efforts to make it to the national stage of competition.