Special to 1812Blockhouse
The 2022 Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center Tri-County Spelling Bee took place on Thursday, February 10th at Mid-Ohio ESC in Mansfield. An impressive group of 34 of the top spellers from 16 local school districts in grades 4 through 8 from Crawford, Morrow, and Richland counties were invited to compete to be the Tri-County Spelling Bee Champion. This event was the first in-person spelling bee to take place since 2020.
After 10 rounds of competition, Miles P., a sixth grader from Lexington, became the 2022 Tri-County Spelling Bee Champion after spelling the winning word, “mirages,” optical phenomena that are often observed on still days over deserts or hot pavement.
After a competitive two-round spell-off between two contestants, Jeriel Martinez, an eighth grader from Crestview, was the runner-up. Leah Barger, the spelling bee coordinator for Mid-Ohio ESC said Miles and Jeriel were not just competitors. “These two tremendous spellers are also good friends outside of the spelling bee and displayed great sportsmanship throughout the entire competition!”
Every speller received a certificate and the champion and first runner-up received trophies. Certificates and awards were generously provided by the Mansfield News Journal.
Barger said she and the Mid-Ohio ESC staff gave their hearty congratulations to the champion and runner-up and all of the student spellers. “Everyone was enthusiastic to have this bee in-person again. We applaud the students and their coaches for their adaptability going from virtual county bees to in-person for this event.”
