How do you spell “stalactite”?

When eighth grader Duke Burge of Gallatin correctly answered this question, he was declared the winner of the Daviess County spelling bee held Feb. 29 at the Gallatin elementary gym. Sixth grader Katie Patton of Gallatin claimed second place by correctly spelling “fantasize.” North Daviess R-3 eighth grader Mark McNeely claimed third place in the spelling bee and will serve as an alternate to the regional spelling bee.

The county spelling bee began with a field of 38 contestants. Barbara Wilson of Gallatin was the pronouncer, assisted by judges Sally Minnick of Tri-County R-7, Kathy Henderson of Winston R- 6, Gregg Hartley of North Daviess R-3, and Amy Ehlers of Pattonsburg. Some of the words in the final round were: apogee, mandible, fandango, species, tenacious, dancery, toxicosis, gluttonously, homage, icicle and gravitational. Rain thundered on the roof of the elementary gym during the final round of the spelling bee.

Other students who participated were as follows: Gallatin — fifth graders Jonathan Arnold and Zack Bradley, sixth grader Lacy Peery, seventh graders Emily Gay and Garett Houghton, and eighth grader Richie McLey; North Daviess — fifth graders Colt Bohannon and Bruce Sweet, sixth graders Beth Morris and Steven Steinman, seventh graders Nicole Ray and Trisha Breit, and eighth grader Felicia Nelson; Pattonsburg — fifth graders Justin Coffey and Aleah Sperry, sixth graders Katelyn Hulet and Kelly Cornett, seventh graders James Spradlin and Carsley Crabtree, eighth graders Sherry Loucks and Bobby Pearcy; Tri-County R-7 — fifth grader Joe Brose, sixth graders Chris Rosentreter and Seth Rhodes, seventh graders Tabathe Williams and Nicole May, eighth grader Chanel Lovell; Winston — fifth graders Daniel V. Williams and Shane Cox, sixth graders Jody Michael and Kenny Lee, seventh graders Jeff LyBarger and Jackie Lee, and eighth graders Ronnie Tarepin and Tiffany Britton.

Trophies for the Daviess County spelling bee are provided by Gallatin Publishing Company. The regional spelling bee is held in St. Joseph and sponsored by the St. Joseph News-Press. Finalists in that competition will advance to nationals.