Madras Middle School 7th grader Noah Watson was the winner of this year’s Coweta County district-wide Spelling Bee.

Arnall 8th grader Gabriel Lawrence came in second at the annual bee, which was held at the Nixon Centre for Performing and Visual Arts on Thursday, January 17.

This year’s bee lasted through 210 words and 33 rounds.  The two finalists sparred for 22 words before Watson spelled “gestapo” correctly for the win. The two middle school finalists were from among 25 students, grades 3 through 8, who competed Thursday night.

This year’s spelling bee winner and runner-up each received a Kindle Fire, provided by bee sponsor BB&T Bank of Newnan.

The winners of school spelling bees held in Coweta County’s 19 elementary schools and six middle schools compete each year in the annual county spelling bee. The 1st place spellers who competed in Thursday’s spelling bee were:

Nathan Benson (Arbor Springs)

AJ Salierno (Arnco Sargent)

Cameron Jordan (Atkinson)

David Cuadrado (Brooks)

Dallas Wilkins (Canongate)

Jackson Williams (Eastside)

Tristan Johnston (Elm Street)

Shedrick Larks (Glanton)

Shaniyah Johns (Jefferson Parkway)

Christopher Delp (Moreland)

Laxmi Patel (Newnan Crossing)

Dillan Rayfield (Northside)

Ava Kelly (Poplar Road)

Jackson Meigs (Ruth Hill)

Marlie Stanelle (Thomas Crossroads)

Nate Blose (Welch)

Trent Adams (Western)

David Oyekanmi (White Oak)

Travis Shearer (Willis Road)

Gabriel Lawrence (Arnall)

Jayden Huck (East Coweta)

Cameron Mitchell (Evans)

Anja Govednik (Lee)

Noah Watson (Madras)

Andrew Hunter (Smokey Road)
 
The runners-up in this year’s 25 Coweta County school spellings bees were:

Cooper Ryan (Arbor Springs)

Caleb Worley (Arnco Sargent)

Micah Smith (Atkinson)

Caleb Dorough (Brooks)

Nyah Chopko (Canongate)

Sophia Vaccariello (Eastside)

Sarah Frank (Elm Street)

Isaiah Smith (Glanton)

Nygil Fearby (Jefferson Parkway)

Paylin Dodson (Moreland)

Kyle Kennemur (Newnan Crossing)

Cole Hayes (Northside)

Carlie Hall (Poplar Road)

Evan McGuffey (Ruth Hill)

Savannah Chitnis (Thomas Crossroads)

Rienna Bridges (Welch)

Chloe Johnson (Western)

Julie Garcia (White Oak)

Andrew Thomas (Willis Road)

Logan Stelling (Arnall)

Francisco Villasenor (East Coweta)

Marco White (Evans)

Luke Beam (Lee)

Samuel Quinn (Madras)

Curtis Paulk (Smokey Road)

Principal Julie Durrance of Arbor Springs Elementary School, Principal Kiefer Triplett Smokey Road Middle School, and Principal Christi Hildebrand of Elm Street Elementary School served as judges, and Dean Jackson served as pronouncer, for Thursday’s competition. Moreland Principal Melanie Perry and the school system’s curriculum staff organize the annual spelling bee.