MILTON TURNER Back-to-back spelling champ. Milton Turner, a fifth grader, was declared the Wilkes County Spelling Bee winner after correcting the misspelled word “erudite” and then correctly spelling the word “herbivore.” Dorian Favors was named runner-up.

Milton will compete with other area winners in the Augusta Scripps Spelling Bee on March 6. He was also the Wilkes County winner last year and placed fourth in Augusta.

All grade-level finalists competed in the Wilkes County Spelling Bee on February 4 in the W-WCHS Media Center.

The elimination process began in mid-January when all students in grades four through eight were eligible to compete through a written spelling exam. From the results of this written exam, the top ten percent of students from each grade level was determined. Then, these top school finalists competed in oral competition to name the top two spellers from each grade level.

Finalists in the Wilkes County Spelling Bee were (l-r) Huzaifah Aamir, Milton Turner, Ivette Gijon, Jayla Quinn, Dorian Favors, Lykah Mora, Johnathan Flint, Victoria McAvoy, JoAnna Gaskins, and Wishah Aamir. Other grade-level finalists were fourth-graders Lykah Mora and Jayla Quinn; fifth-grader Victoria McAvoy; sixth-graders Huzaifah Aamir and Ivette Gijon; seventhgraders Dorian Favors and JoAnna Gaskins; and eighth-graders Wishah Aamir and Johnathan Flint. Judges for the event were Skeet Willingham and Lille Crowe. Judy Coxwell, WWES Media Specialist, served as the Spelling Bee Coordinator.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an educational promotion sponsored by The E.W. Scripps Company in conjunction with sponsoring organizations around the world. Its purpose is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabulary, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives.

The program takes place on two levels, local and national. Sponsors organize spelling bee programs in their locales and send their champions to the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The national program is coordinated by The E.W. Scripps Company corporate headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition to planning and conducting the national finals, the national office annually produces several word publications utilized by students, educators, and sponsors.

The National Spelling Bee was begun in 1925. Nine students participated in the first national finals. In 1942, Scripps acquired the rights to the program. There was no Scripps National Spelling Bee during the World War II years of 1943, 1944, and 1945. Of the 85 National Spelling Bee champions, 44 have been girls and 41 have been boys. Cochampions were declared in 1950, 1957, and 1962. The 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee will involve more than 11 million students.