VALDOSTA — Lowndes County Schools hosted a system-wide spelling bee Friday, bringing together the brightest young spellers from across the district. 

The competition, led by Heather Epley, Lowndes County School Systems English language arts professional learning coordinator/coach, featured students who had previously excelled at their respective schools’ spelling bees. 

Each school in the district hosts its own spelling bee, selecting two top participants: a winner and an alternate. These representatives then advance to the system-wide competition to showcase their spelling skills on a larger stage.

The words in the competition, provided by the Scripps National Spelling Bee, ranged in difficulty, with challenging entries like anthropology, millionaire, and addendum. The Scripps National Spelling Bee provides a word list for the competition. This list is used by the pronouncer and judges, who follow it systematically, offering definitions and presenting each word to the contestants in order. 

After intense rounds of spelling, Gunner Smith of Lowndes Middle School emerged as the winner of the competition. To prepare, Gunner said, he worked diligently at home with his father. Using a practice package, they simulated real spelling bee conditions. Whenever Gunner misspelled a word, his father marked it with a star, allowing Gunner to revisit and review those words to strengthen his skills.

Epley expressed her enthusiasm for the event, emphasizing the broader impact on students: “My favorite thing about Lowndes County is that we do not just celebrate academics; we do not just celebrate athletics. We get to celebrate kids who are good at all things, and this is just one of those examples of how we get to do that,” she said.

Gunner also offered advice for aspiring spellers: “I would say just try it out. If you do not try, it’s gonna be wrong. If it is wrong and you try, it is better than if it is wrong because you did not try.”