Contributed Photo Bonduel School District spelling bee participants Wednesday included, from left, front row, sixth-grade champion Tyler Thunder, grand champion Erin Timler, runner-up Meghan Wondra, fourth-grade champion Kylie Hoffman; back row, coach Dawn Scheelk of Bonduel Middle School, eighth-grade champion Andrea Thunder, pronouncer Peter Behnke, seventh-grade champion Aaron Margelofsky, fifth-grade champion Riley Bosman, coach Tina Hertzfeldt of Bonduel Elementary School.
Fifth-grader Erin Timler emerged as the winner of the Bonduel School District spelling bee Wednesday.
Forty students participated in the bee, which lasted eight rounds.
Timler correctly spelled the word “shiatsu” to win the bee. Meghan Wondra successfully spelled “pontiff” to win runner-up honors in a tie-breaking round.
Timler will advance to the regional bee, which will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at Shawano Community Middle School, 1050 S. Union St., Shawano.
This year, a vocabulary round was integrated into the bee to prepare the students for new requirements of the state and national bees.
District Administrator Peter Behnke was the pronouncer for the bee, which will be his last before retirement. Lisa Sorlie, spelling bee coordinator, said she plans to invite Behnke to return as a special guest next year but “sort of hopes that he’ll be too busy traveling and enjoying all that retirement has to offer.”