Ennis’ Addison Oliver wins Madison County Spelling Bee

The 2020 Madison County Spelling Bee took place on Feb. 27 at the County Administration Building in Virginia City.

Nineteen students grades 4 – 8 from Ennis, Harrison, Sheridan and Twin Bridges participated in the bee. The participants had previously spelled in school-based bees to earn the right to spell in the county bee. The bee was organized by Madison County Superintendent of Schools, Pam Birkeland.

Pronouncer, Leona Stredwick, and judges Megan Ellis, Marilyn Jenkins, and Jody Sprout generously gave their time to make the bee a great experience for the students.

The bee started with a practice round to calm the spellers’ nerves and to allow them to experience the format of the bee. The bee lasted a little over an hour with the champion, Addison Oliver, 8th grade student from Ennis, being crowned in the 6th round. Oliver spelled the word “pilferer” correctly to win the bee.

Once she was crowned, the spelling bee went three additional rounds before Ben Wayland, 7th grade student from Twin Bridges, spelled “duopoly” correctly to be declared the Runner-Up. Both Oliver and Wayland received an individual trophy, and Ennis Schools received the traveling trophy, which they will host for the next year.

Additionally, the two winners received cash prizes of $100 and $50 respectively. The cash prizes were the result of the generous donations of $50 each from First Interstate Bank, Madison Valley Bank, and Opportunity Bank of Montana.

Spellers who did not place first or sec- ond were put in a drawing for a $25 cash prize. The lucky winner of the drawing was Kaiden Suplee of Ennis. Oliver is now eligible to represent Madison County at the 55th Annual Treasure State Spelling Bee which will be held in Bozeman at the MSU Campus on Saturday, March 14th. Wayland will serve as alternate.

This year’s state bee is sponsored by the Montana Television Network. The school spelling bees as well as the county spelling bees are occurring all over the country as part of the program leading up to first the state bees and eventually the Scripps National Spelling Bee sponsored by the Scripps Corporation. The winner of the Montana State Bee will represent Montana at the National Bee held May 24th-29th in National Harbor, Md.