The top spellers at Ripon Unified were recognized at Monday’s school board meeting.

“They had to first go through class, grade level and school-wide competitions,” said Superintendent Ziggy Robeson.

Just making it to the recent San Joaquin County Spelling Bee was an honor onto itself.

For that, Trustees recognized and presented award certificates to those students who participated in the District Spelling Bee and the SJC Spelling Bee.

The local participants at lower level – fourth- through- sixth grade competition – in the County event were Mia Focaracci (fourth grade, Colony Oak), Abigail Avant (fifth grade, Park View), Caitlin Mooney (sixth grade, Weston) and Samantha Wall (sixth grade, Ripon Elementary).

The upper division winners (seventh through ninth grades) were: Beauross Yan (seventh grade, Ripon Elementary), Harvey Keene / Dykes (eighth grade, Ripona), Kari Marshall (eighth grade, Weston), Alex Alvarellos (eighth grade, Park View).

Participants who made it to the RUSD competition consisted of: Isidro Silvera and Mikayla Dietrich from Ripon Elementary; Malaki Ward, Jivitesh Chaunhary and Aliyah Bryant from Ripona; Lizzie Meredith and Logan Ceci from Weston; Harleen Kaur and Avelin Ayala from Park View; John Yeung, Brett Skavdahl and Jacob Bylsma from Colony Oak; and Magdelena Diego and Isaiah Green from Ripon High.