The Lawrence County Spelling Bee is coming up and individual schools are beginning to award their winners.

Ironton City Schools conducted their spelling bee on Thursday, with 16 students from grades four through eight at the elementary and middle school taking part.

The winner was Lilly Lewis of the sixth grade. She is the daughter of Stacey and Lamont Lewis.

Coming in second was Haley Shimer, who was eliminated after misspelling “Opportunity.”

Lewis then correctly spelled “salamander,” but needed to win one more round and was given an additional word.

After getting “amino” correct, she won the bee.

Rounding out the top five were Riley Winters, Annika McCown and Ryleigh Malone.

Lewis and Shimer will both take part in the county bee, which is set for 9 a.m. Dec. 4 in the Ironton Municipal Courtroom.

The county bee, which is organized by the Lawrence County Educational Service Center, will have two entrants from each school district, who will be the winners at their school’s bees, which take place in coming weeks.

Those who take part in the bee will also be eligible to take an online test to qualify for the regional Scripps National Bee, which will be at Ohio University in Athens in March.