Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A homeschooler from Warsaw will represent Kosciusko County next month at the regional spelling bee in Fort Wayne.
Tyler Petty, the sixth-grade son of Gordon and Kirsten Petty of Warsaw, won the county spelling bee Wednesday in the 12th round. Runner-up was Sarah Rule, an eighth-grader from Milford School.
The students competed in the county spelling championship, which was broadcast Wednesday evening over WRSW-AM and WRSW-FM.
After correctly spelling such words as "bratwurst," "melodrama" and "audience," Rule stumbled on "cobbler."
Petty went on to correctly spell "laceration" and was declared the winner.
Because of this year's rule change, Petty was required to correctly spell only one word after Rule missed hers. In the past, Petty would have had to spell the misspelled word, finish the round, then spell a new word to win. Wednesday, since Petty started the round, he needed to spell only one word to take the championship.
Petty will advance to the March 22 regional bee at the Anthis Career Center in Fort Wayne.
Rule and Petty each received $2,500 Richard R. Long Scholarships, which were sponsored by the International Palace of Sports Foundation in North Webster.
Rule is the daughter of James and Karen Rule, Milford.
