Eighteen students from nine Greenbrier County elementary schools, two middle schools and Lewisburg Baptist Academy gathered with excitement on the Western Greenbrier Middle School stage to compete in Greenbrier County’s 2016-17 Spelling Bee on Jan. 11.

After 16 rounds of spelling challenges, Lawson Hamilton, a sixth grade student from Eastern Greenbrier Middle School, correctly spelled the word “repine” to win first place.

As the Greenbrier County Spelling Bee champion, Hamilton will travel to Capitol High School in Charleston on Mar. 11 to represent Greenbrier County in the regional spelling bee. Larissa Wickline, a fourth grade student from Rainelle Elementary School, earned her place as runner-up and will also travel to the regional bee. Iona Sills, a fourth grade student at Ronceverte Elementary School, placed as the first alternate.

“School-level spelling bees are facilitated at each of our elementary and middle schools each fall to determine who will advance to the county spelling bee. We are so proud of all of the students who participate at each level of the competition. Those who advance to the county level are outstanding students and fine spellers who represent themselves and their schools with pride,” said Lynne Bostic, Greenbrier County’s spelling bee coordinator.

Competitors in the 2016-17 county bee were: Alexis Dickenson of Alderson Elementary School; Elijah Hollinghead of Crichton Elementary School; Lawson Hamilton, Gabe Paxton and Zoe Wease of Eastern Greenbrier Middle School; Cole Morgan of Frankford Elementary School; Abigail Mathis of Lewisburg Baptist Academy; Keilei Christian and Ian Cline of Lewisburg Elementary School; Larissa Wickline of Rainelle Elementary School; Bryce Holley and Iona Sills of Ronceverte Elementary School; Julia Herndon of Rupert Elementary School; Alexis Cales of Smoot Elementary  School; Joseph Bennett and Alyssa Snyder of Western Greenbrier Middle School; and Raina Childers and Jaiden Walton of White Sulphur Springs Elementary School.

Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, the National Spelling Bee is the nation’s largest and longest-running educational promotion, administered on a nonprofit basis by The E.W. Scripps Company and local spelling bee sponsors around the globe. The purpose of the National Spelling Bee is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives.