Courtesy photo
COCONINO COUNTY — Cheryl Mango-Paget, County Superintendent of Schools, would like to announce Coconino County’s 2023 Spelling BEE winner is Calliope Hill from Montessori School of Flagstaff.
Calliope was determined the winner upon spelling the word “trilby” correctly after battling through the last few rounds with runner up Ember Evans from Flagstaff Christian School and third place winner, James Janik from Mount Elden Middle School. Congratulations Calliope Hill on winning the 2023 County Spelling Bee! You should be incredibly proud knowing your efforts and skills paid off and contributed to your recent achievement. Calliope Hill received $250 from the Flagstaff Rotary Club and will move on to compete in the State Spelling Bee on March 18, 2023.
This year’s County Spelling BEE was coordinated and hosted by the County Superintendent of Schools Office. The County BEE was held February 11, 2023, at Flagstaff High School.
Two other exceptional spellers finished second and third place respectively. The 2nd place winner, Ember Evans, from Flagstaff Christian School received $150 from the Williams Rotary Club and the 3rd place winner, James Janik, from Mount Elden Middle School received $100 from the Grand Canyon Rotary Club.
“Each speller here today is already a winner, as these spellers encompass the school’s champions of all Coconino County” said Superintendent Cheryl Mango-Paget.
Thank you, Spellers, for a job well done! Keep up the hard work for next year!
The 2023 Coconino County Spelling BEE consists of home, public, charter, and private school-students from throughout the County who won their school or district Spelling Bee.
We would also like to thank our pronouncer, Stephanie Hammond, for volunteering yet again to help usher in the next Coconino County Spelling Bee champion. Thank you, Rotary clubs, for sponsoring and participating as the judges, Flagstaff Rotary Club, Micah Crabdree, Williams Rotary Club Tanya Christie, and Grand Canyon Rotary Club, Clayann Cook. We greatly cherish our relationship with you and thank you for serving our community and supporting the Coconino County Spelling Bee for numerous years.
For photos of the bee visit: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAsbqp
For more information, please contact Michelle Despain, program coordinator for the Coconino County Superintendent of Schools office, at 928-679-8070 or email – mdespain@coconino.az.gov.