Mary Jo will compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C., May 24-29.
Runner-up was Emily Helm, a seventh-grader at Immaculate Conception School in Dayton. Claiming third place was Natalie Milligan, a seventh-grader at Decolores Montessori School in Greenville.
A total of 17 students — fifth- through eighth-graders — participated in the spelling bee and all received trophies.
The other contestants were Evelyn Aune, eighth-grader at Pathway School of Discovery; Alex Boggs, eighth-grader at Tri-County North Middle School; Mikayla Byrd, fifth-grader at Forest Elementary School; Britney Edle, eight-grader at Emerson Academy; Skylith Edwards, sixth-grader at Ansonia Elementary School; Gage Hammer, fifth-grader at Bennett Intermediate School; Grant Humphrey, sixth-grader at Covington Middle School; Will Janning, eighth-grader at Oakwood Junior High School; Aquavee Madison, seventh-grader at Coy Middle School; Grace Marshall, sixth-grader at Morton Middle School; Julia Norris, sixth-grader at Valley Forge Elementary School; Ben Thomas, eighth-grader at Tower Heights Middle School; Amal Umerani, eighth-grader at Ridgewood School; and Riley Warnick, sixth-grader at Northmoor Elementary School.
All the students who competed Saturday were district spelling bee winners from Darke, Greene, Clark, Montgomery, Miami and the Ohio Virtual Academy.
Pronouncer for the spelling bee was this reporter, who is also an editor for the Dayton Daily News and holds a Ph.D. in English. Judges were Jim Tyler, editor of Skywriter, the newspaper for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; and Carole Dean, retired Dayton Public Schools teacher.
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