Brewton Middle School student claims county-wide spelling title
From left are Pettis, Bowen, Sowards and Knight
"Tragic" was slowly and deliberately spelled out in the otherwise quiet library of Flomaton High School Tuesday morning as Jade Sowards spoke the letters to earn her way to the state championship spelling bee. Sowards, an eighth grader at Brewton Middle School won the Escambia County county-wide spelling bee in the fourth round against her competitors.
Escambia County had four participants in this year's event including Sowards, Michael Bowen, a fourth grader from Flomaton Elementary School, Racquel Knight, an eighth grader from Escambia County Middle School and Audrey Pettis, a fourth grader hailing from Brewton Elementary School.
After Sowards sealed her position for the state championship, there was a runoff between Bowen and Knight. Lasting an impressive 13 rounds, Knight was able to secure the spot for first alternate in the event that Sowards is unable to compete.
Sandra Reed, the elementary supervisor for the Escambia County Board of Education, facilitated the county event making sure that state guidelines were followed. After the spelling bee concluded she noted her feelings about the county's participants.
"I'm very proud of all of our winners", Reed said, "It's evident that these kids studied and were committed to the event."
The state championship spelling bee will be held in Birmingham at the Alabaster United Methodist Church on March 10.
