FORT WAYNE - NorthWood Middle School eighth-grader Adam Freymiller won the Journal Gazette's 55th Annual Spelling Bee Saturday, while Edgewood Middle School's Anna Bearrs placed seventh.
During the spelling bee, presented by Touchstone Energy, Freymiller correctly spelled liquefaction to win. Liquefaction is the process of making or becoming a non-gaseous fluid.
He will represent northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio in the 82nd Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. May 24-30.
Bearrs, a 13-year-old seventh-grader at Edgewood Middle School, is the daughter of Keith and Melissa Gunter. She defeated Loren Railsback at the Kosciusko County Bee Feb. 5 at Kosciusko REMC to advance to the regional final. A total of 17 spellers competed for the championship.
Lasting until the 16th round at the area bee, Bearrs correctly spelled the words morgue, transect, vivisection, hypothesis, abdicate, vulcanize, Meistersinger, ambivalent, alcohol, relevant, duenna, staccato, erudite, bureaucracy and amphibious. She went out in the 16th round with her misspelling of "kishke," which she spelled as "kishka." The bee continued for seven more rounds.
The 55th Annual Spelling Bee Area Finals Saturday was at Anthis Career Center in Fort Wayne. The Bee was sponsored by The Journal Gazette and Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives of northeast Indiana, including Kosciusko REMC. Kosciusko REMC Manager of Marketing and Communications Doris Lemert served as an auxiliary judge, and presented awards to the regional winner and finalists following the completion of the bee.
Kosciusko REMC is a Touchstone Energy® electric cooperative serving more than 17,000 members throughout Kosciusko County and into surrounding counties.
