The 41st Annual Livingston Parish News Spelling Bee brought its fair share of drama Tuesday night.
Hosted by the Livingston Parish Fair, 26 students representing the junior highs across Livingston Parish compete on campus first, and then the top two contestants have a chance to represent themselves and their schools at the parish-wide spelling bee.
Third place for the campus competition are held in reserve as an alternate.
This year, Anya Oglesby of Live Oak Middle took first place after almost 40 rounds of competition that spanned two-and-a-half hours. Oglesby competed with Mason Tasker of Albany Middle School in the final rounds, with Tasker just missing the spelling of ‘independent.’ Per the rules, Oglesby had to spell ‘independent’ correctly, and then a new word to take the top spot.
She cleared ‘independent,’ and then spelled ‘patience’ for the win.
Ryder Sanchez, of Denham Springs Junior High, took third place.
Each of the top three winners receives a ribbon, cash prizes, and a plaque for their school. All participants received a gift card to Chick-Fil-A.
The event was moderated by Louisiana Press Association Executive Director McHugh David, who calls out the words for each contestant. Three judges then verify that the contestant pronounces the word correctly before and after it is spelled, and confirm it is spelled correctly. Once the process is over, the judges inform the moderator whether or not the contestant was successful.
Those judges were Lois Wax, a retired English teacher from Denham Springs High School; Margaret Harris, a retired elementary and junior high teacher; and Loris Caruso, who currently teaches at Denham Springs High School.
Find the full list of contestants below (schools in parentheses):
Leah Averett (Albany Middle School)
Mason Tasker (Albany Middle School)
Ryder Sanchez (Denham Springs Junior High)
Kylie Branagan (Denham Springs Junior High)
Christina Elkins (Doyle High School)
Alyssa Landry (Doyle High School)
Parker Knight (French Settlement Elementary)
Wyatt Townsend (French Settlement Elementary)
Jwan Favron (Holden School)
Samuel “Tucker” Bankston (Holden School)
Camden Palmer (Juban Park Junior High)
Kenneth Pannabecker (Juban Park Junior High)
Sterling Davis (Live Oak Middle)
Anya Oglesby (Live Oak Middle)
Carter Rheams (Alternate – Maurepas School)
Noelle Thomas (Maurepas School)
Lily Garcia (North Corbin Junior High)
Brooks Robinson (North Corbin Junior High)
Elizabeth Thompson (Southside Junior High)
Genesis Guifarro-Rodriguez (Southside Junior High)
Zayne Jones (Springfield Middle)
Brock Demars (Springfield Middle)
Qua’Myah Phillips (Walker Junior High)
Anthony Cox (Absent – Walker Junior High)
Dani Mizell (Westside Junior High)
Aariston Duke (Westside Junior High)
