Logan County Spelling Bee champs pronounced         

[March 02, 2007]  The annual Logan County Spelling Bee, hosted by Regional Office of Education 38 and sponsored by The Pantagraph and Busey Bank, was on Tuesday at Lincoln Community High School. Three area students -- Kayla Huskins, Noah Kirby and Kieran Foster -- earned the opportunity to advance to the next bee, which will be in Bloomington on March 17. The winner of the Bloomington contest will go to Washington, D.C., to participate in the annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee.

Kayla Huskins

The Logan County winner was Kayla Huskins, a seventh-grade student at Zion Lutheran School in Lincoln. Kayla is the daughter of Richard and Christie Huskins of Lincoln. The Pantagraph awarded Kayla the winner's trophy.

First runner-up went to Noah Kirby, a sixth-grader at Park Meadows Baptist School and the son of Brent Kirby and Laura Sallie of Mason City. The Pantagraph awarded Noah a $20 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble.

Noah Kirby and Kieran Foster

Kieran Foster, daughter of Connor and Rachel Foster of Lincoln, was second runner-up. Kieran is a fourth-grader at Northwest Elementary School.

Each of these three students received a copy of the Webster's II New College Dictionary, compliments of the Logan-Mason-Menard Regional Office of Education.

Judges for the competition were Rosanne Brosamer, Logan County supervisor of assessments; Sally Litterly, Logan County clerk; and Logan County Sheriff Steve Nichols. We appreciate the support and expertise of our judges and thank them again for their help. Thanks, also, to Sandy Blane, office manager for Regional Office of Education 38, for planning and supervising the event.

We at the regional office are very proud of our champion spellers and wish them the best of luck on March 17.

[Text from file received from Logan-Mason-Menard Regional Office of Education 38; Jean Anderson, regional superintendent]