Local Students Busy in Bees

POTOMAC & Swan Valley - Students at Swan Valley and Potomac elementary schools studied for the January geography and spelling competitions. Potomac's Lars Erickson won the geography bee. Jayla Kauffman from Swan Valley Elementary School and Bethany Heisey from Potomac won their spelling bees as well.

Potomac School has been organizing geography bee competitions for more than 14 years. Students in grades four through eight participated in class geography bees that qualified them for the school bee Jan. 20. Nine students qualified.

The championship geography round included two questions for eighth-grader Lars Erickson and seventh-grader Bowen Olson:

Question 1. Gray wolves were once wiped out from Yellowstone National Park, but have made a comeback in recent years due to conservation efforts.  Yellowstone National Park is located in Wyoming, Montana and which other state? (Answer: Idaho)

Question 2. In the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling Harry takes a train to Hogwartz at King's Crossing Street in what major European city? (Answer: London)

Erickson correctly answered both questions making him eligible to take a qualifying test for the Montana State Geography Bee April 1. Winning Montana geography bee students may go on to the National Geography Bee May 22-25 in Washington, D.C.

The Potomac fifth through eighth grade spelling bee was Jan. 27. Potomac School has been offering spelling bees for the students for more than 17 years. All fifth through eighth grade students competed in their classroom spelling bees to see who qualified for the school bee.

Some words spelled during the school bee for the fifth through eighth grade finalists were 'eavesdrop', 'ecologist' and 'radiator.' Third place went to eighth grader Kyla Nelson, second place went to seventh grader Emma Richardson and first place went to seventh grader Heisey. Heisey's winning words were 'ablaze' and 'badge'.

The Potomac kindergarten through fourth grade had their spelling bee Jan 28. Teacher Karry Betson had the kindergarten present an exhibition bee to the school. The students spelled words like 'dog', 'cat' and 'animal' with a smidge of help from Betson.

Potomac first grade placings: 1. Katrina Olson correctly spelled 'happy', 2. Iyla McDonald, 3. Lily Dunn.

Second grade placings: 1. Gabe Knapp correctly spelled 'people', 2. Westin Ployhar, 3. Kaycee Salter.

Third grade placings: 1. Hilde Hamilton correctly spelled 'climb', 2. Corbin Weltzien, 3. Lily Van Grinsven.

Fourth grade placings: 1. Sage Fife correctly spelled 'many', 2. Chase Salter, 3. Brandon Leathers.

Also on Jan. 28 the Swan Valley Elementary junior high including two fifth-graders held their school spelling bee. They have been holding an annual spelling bee for the past 35 years.

Eighth-grader Jayla Kauffman spelled 'migraine' correctly and won the spelling bee. Swan Valley fifth grader Connor Matthew is the runner-up and may attend the Missoula County bee if Kauffman cannot attend.

Swan Valley judge Colleen Kesterson thought the participating students were respectful of each other during the bee. "I was very proud of the eight Swan Valley Elementary students in grades five through eight who seriously did their best in the spelling contest," she said.  

All fifth through eighth grade winning spellers have the opportunity to participate in the county spelling bee at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at Sentinel High School in Missoula. From there, three representatives from Missoula County grades fifth through eighth can move on to the Treasure State Spelling Bee in Billings March 19.