Baylon, Bitsoi named champions at Fort Defiance spelling bee
Korri Lee, 12, from Greasewood Community School was named the champion for the seventh grade level after she correctly spelled “polka.” (Times photo – Shondiin Silversmith)
GANADO
During the Fort Defiance Agency Bee at Ganado Middle School, finding a champion was easier for some grades then others.
Some of the spellers went on for numerous rounds, and some only went on for few.
Eighth-grader Tamara Baylon, 15, from Ganado Middle School was named champion by the third round when she correctly spelled “Wunderkind.”
With 10 other spellers competing in the eighth-grade level bee, Baylon’s chances of winning we’re high when six got eliminated by the first round and the final four were taken out by the second.
Pictured are the Fort Defiance Agencies’ top spellers from kindergarten to eighth grade. The champions from each grade will move on to the Navajo Nation Spelling Bee in March. (Times photo – Shondiin Silversmith)
“I thought it was hard but then it wasn’t. It was easy,” Baylon admitted of the bee, but she was happy to be named champion.
“I wasn’t expecting to win,” Baylon said of her victory, but this being her first time participating in the spelling bee she’s looking forward to moving going to the Navajo Nation Spelling Bee.
“I hope the words will be easy,” she added.
This is Baylon’s first and final year being able to compete in the Navajo Nation Spelling bee because the bee caters to students from second to eighth grade.
To read the full article, pick up your copy of the Navajo Times at your nearest newsstand Thursday mornings!
Are you a digital subscriber? Read the most recent three weeks of stories by logging in to your online account.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow