Sixteen students competed in the Port Clinton Middle School Spelling Bee recently in regional competition. Nayellie Fritz, second from right in front row, came in second place, and Maxon Fluckinger, far left in front row, came in third. All of the competitors won classroom competitions.

Seventh grader Shantha Weit of Port Clinton Middle School student is on her way to the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee in Toledo. The seventh grader earned her spot in the regional competition by winning against 15 other competitors in the recent Middle School Spelling Bee held at the Port Clinton High School Performing Arts Center.

This is the second year Weit won the school bee. Last year, she placed tenth in the regional competition. The bee was moderated by Port Clinton Schools Speech Pathologist Kristen Quisno Witt.

Weit’s next step is to take a Scripps online spelling test on March 15. The top 20 to 25 spellers will advance to The Blade Northwest Ohio Championship Spelling Bee, an in-person competition held at Owens Community College on March 25. The winner from that competition will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. on June 1.

The national competition is a weeklong event for competitors and their families that includes educational workshops, special events and outings throughout the capital. This year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee will take place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.

Weit is an avid reader who prepared for the Port Clinton Middle School Spelling Bee by studying an official word list compiled by Scripps from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary. Nayellie Fritz came in second, and Maxon Fluckinger came in third at the middle school competition.

Port Clinton Middle School Principal Dennis

Antonelli said he was proud of all of the competitors.

“Port Clinton has a strong tradition in athletics, but we also have a strong academic tradition,” he said. “We’ll take any chance we can to celebrate that and have a little fun, too.”