Laney Johnson wins Minerva Middle School spelling bee

Minerva seventh-grader Laney Johnson became the middle school spelling bee champion Feb. 14 after spelling the word “maggot” correctly in the 17th round.
Seventh-grader Naomi Hackbart was the runner-up.
The students in the bee qualified by scoring in the top category of spellers after two rounds of written exams. Twenty students out of 423 in the middle school made it to the 29th annual event.
Laney’s first-place win entitles her to represent Minerva Local School District in the regional spelling bee that is to be held at Kent State Stark Conference Center.
Judges for the spelling bee were Nicole Chaddock and Victoria Stafford. Richard Mikes, a retired Minerva Middle School principal, was the pronouncer for the bee. Minerva Middle School Principal Josh Morckel is the district spelling bee coordinator and was the administrative representative and emcee.
“Thank you to our judges and to our pronouncer, Mr. Mikes. Thank you also to our sponsor: The Minerva Pizza Hut for offering a personal pan pizza for each contestant,” stated Morckel. “The MMS community is very proud of all of our spellers as everyone did a fantastic job! Congratulations to Laney Johnson, our new champion!”