2013 FCS Spelling Champion

 

(Media Release) Zayden Sullins, a fourth grader at Garden Lakes Elementary, was the top speller in the Floyd County school system's annual Spelling Bee, held on Friday, February 1, 2013, at 9:00 a.m., at the Floyd County Board of Education office on Riverside Parkway.  It is not often that a fourth grader wins the competition where students from grades four through eight vie to be recognized as the best speller in the system. The last time a fourth grader won the system spelling title was in 2003 when Abby Monteith, a fourth grade student at Armuchee Elementary, was the champion.  Sullins and 10 other individual school spelling champions participated in the Floyd County Schools Spelling Bee. Zac Mitchell, a sixth-grade student from Coosa Middle School, was the runner-up in the competition.

The final round moved quickly with Mitchell faltering on the word "predicament." Sullins spelled the word correctly and then confidently spelled "vernal" to take the title. Finalists must spell two words in a row correctly to win the competition at the system level.

Sullins said that he spent a lot of time studying words to get ready to compete in the academic spell-off.  He said, "My parents helped me study by letting me know when I misspelled a word in practice."  Sullins plans to continue his extra study schedule to get ready to compete in the District Spelling Bee.

For his first-place finish, Sullins received a plaque and certificate recognizing his accomplishment. He will represent Floyd County Schools in the District Spelling Bee to be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 23 at the Floyd County Board of Education office. Zac Mitchell will serve as an alternate at District. The District Spelling Bee will feature the top spellers in the Northwest Georgia area.

School spelling champions participating in the Floyd County Spelling Bee were: Alto Park Elementary, Emily Vankleef; Armuchee Elementary, Levi Hammond; Armuchee Middle, Christopher Castro; Cave Spring Elementary, Hannah Moore; Coosa Middle, Zac Mitchell; Garden Lakes Elementary, Zayden Sullins; Johnson Elementary, Aaron Bartleson; Model Elementary, Brylen Cantrell; Model Middle, Madison Dover; Pepperell Elementary, Morgan Davis; Pepperell Middle, David Johnson.

View YouTube video of Spelling champion at: http://youtu.be/zjA8C9hkZZQ