Pearl City student wins regional spelling bee

FREEPORT – The 42nd annual Carroll, Jo Daviess and Stephenson County Regional Spelling Bee was held Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Highland Community College.

Twenty-two students in grades four through eight competed in the spelling bee, which was coordinated by the Regional Office of Education No. 8. The participants of the regional spelling bee are the first- and second-place winners from their local school district spelling bee contests.

The 2024 regional spelling bee champion was Hendrix Feld, a seventh-grade student from Pearl City School District 200. Mason Coulthard, a seventh-grade student from Lena-Winslow School District, earned second place.

The two finalists competed back and forth for several rounds before Mason misspelled “deprivation” at the beginning of round 13 and Hendrix spelled “asylum” correctly at the end of round 13.

Hendrix then spelled “tantrum” correctly to win the next round and became the 42nd regional spelling bee champion.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee will be May 26 to June 1 in Washington, D.C. The all-expenses-paid trip for the Regional Office of Education No. 8 regional spelling bee champion and one parent/guardian is made possible by donations from many individuals and businesses throughout the region