Joyce Liu, center, took first place in the Lowndes County System Wide Spelling Bee, Jon Liu, left, took second place, and Kriegan Allen, right, took third place, Friday morning at Lowndes High School.

Being asked to spell the word T-A-C-T-I-C-A-L-L-Y on stage could make some contestants buzz off in fright; however, for Joyce Liu that was the winning word of the Lowndes County System Wide Spelling Bee.

Joyce represented Hahira Middle School, and she faced 19 other contestants in the Friday morning spelling bee.

Joyce’s little brother, Jon Liu, from Westside Elementary School came in second place, and Kriegan Allen from Clyattville Elementary took third place.

The Spelling Bee began with a practice round where contestants were asked to spell simple words such as cat, dog, fish, cake, and bat, so they could become comfortable on stage and with speaking into a microphone. This did not last long because the competition soon became increasingly difficult.

Contestants stood boldly on stage and did their best, and that is all that was asked of them by the announcer, the judges, and their parents.

“The Lowndes County Schools Spelling Bee is just one of many great things going on in our school system,” said eighth-grade teacher Ditranna Lowe-Walker.

The spelling bee was made up of two contestants from each elementary and middle school in the Lowndes County School System, and Joyce will advance to Georgia’s District Nine Spelling Bee.

“Our winning speller, Joyce Liu, will move on to the Georgia Association of Educators District Nine Spelling Bee. GAE District Nine includes over 20 school systems in South Georgia and Southwest Georgia,” said Rodney Green, assistant superintendent for Lowndes County Schools. “The GAE District Nine Spelling Bee will be held at C.A. Gray Junior High School in Moultrie, Ga. That competition will take place on March 1, 2014.”

The winner of the GAE District Nine Spelling Bee will push on to the GAE State Spelling Bee on March 21, at Georgia State University, with the hopes of reaching the national spelling bee.

These were the other contestants in Friday’s Spelling Bee: Tori Beckstrom from Lake Park Elementary School, Mac McRae from Lake Park Elementary School, Savannah Pannell from Clyattville Elementary School, Christopher Johnson from Moulton Branch Elementary School, Eric Brown from Moulton Branch Elementary School, Lauren Folsom from Westside Elementary School, Maddox Whidden from Hahira Elementary School, Sydney Corbett from Hahira Elementary School, Dakota Young from Dewar Elementary School, Ashari Lanier from Dewar Elementary School, Isaiah Markel from Pine Grove Elementary School, Reymundo Vargas from Pine Grove Elementary, Edward Walker from Hahira Middle School, Lauren Burgess from Pine Grove Middle School, Anicia Drummond from Pine Grove Middle School, Natalie Juarez from Lowndes Middle School, and Abby Gill from Lowndes Middle School.