Four local kids compete in marathon spelling bee

March 25, 2012

After 40 rounds, Eighth-grade Woodland Middle School student Sarah-Jessica Sedy, Coeur d'Alene, was named the winner of the North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee March 17, competing against 44 other students in grades four through eight. She will travel to the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee May 27, courtesty of event sponsor Hagadone Newspapers. This year's bee went into uncharted territory; at 40 rounds it lasted twice as long as any other regional bee in the past. Katie Clairmont, a fourth grader at Valley View Elementary, finished the grueling competition in eighth place, Boundary County Middle School seventh grader David Cossairt finished in ninth place; Valley View Elementary fifth grader Ashlynn Rushing came in with a 10th place finish and Boundary County Middle School sixth grader Reece Bell came in at 12th.