Morris Spelling Bee
Peter Ericksen, a seventh grader, won the Morris Area Schools District Spelling Bee for the second year in a row. In the final round, Ericksen correctly spelled "impromptu" to win the bee. Pictured with Ericksen (left) is first runner up Beau Blanchard, also in seventh grade, and Madison Van Batavia, sixth grade.
Other participants included fifth graders, Aaron Jones, Andrew Joo, Gabriel Sparby, Colton Schaefer, Owen Erickson, Darian Steuck, and Adam Uphoff; sixth graders, Kourtney Giese, Trent Wulf, Austin Hills, Riley Biesterfeld, and John Huebner; seventh graders, Matthew Athey, Brenna Monroe, and Yasha Hoffman; and eighth graders, Lucas Weiland, MaKenzie Smith, Elizabeth Schneider, and Mickey Cotter.
Ericksen advances to the regional bee, where he took fifth place in 2008. From there he could advance to the multi-region contest, where he finished in 11th place last year.