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County competition up next
Spell Bee upper MG 0437 edited-1
Students in the upper elementary classes in Ripon Unified School District took first place honors in their division including grades 7 to 9. They are, from left, Patrick Caldwell, Ripon Elementary; Jeremiah Reynoso, Park View; Brendan Lan, Ripon Elementary; and Dylan Dunning, Colony Oak Elementary School. Caldwell went on to the state competition in 2013. - photo by Photo Contributed

The Ripon Unified School District held its annual Spelling Bee Tuesday night in two grade level divisions qualifying eight students to the county-wide contest Dec. 8 at the San Joaquin County Office of Education in Stockton.

Contestants were from all six schools in the spelling competition.  There were 10 contestants with two from each elementary school who won the right to compete at the district level because of winning a spelling bee at their own schools.  

Immediately following the oral competition, the upper division began with written answers.  Twelve students participated in this division, two for each elementary school site as well as two from the ninth grade at Ripon High.  The goal was to find the four top spellers to send to the County Competition.

Ripon Elementary School’s Patrick Caldwell has gone on to the county competition in the past and is no stranger to the Office of Education event.  He won the county event in 2013 and went on to the state competition. Others in the upper division spellers include Jeremiah Reynoso, Park View; Brenda Lan, Ripon Elementary; and Dylan Dunning of Colony Oak School.

Student spelling winners from the fourth through the sixth grades included Kalista Yan, Ripon Elementary School; Steve Hanna, Park View; Xavier Clark, Ripona School and Kenji Banji of Colony Oak.