George Washington Carver Elementary School in Richmond Hill was abuzz Friday morning as finalists from three county schools competed in the 2011 Bryan County School System Spelling Bee.
Sierra Carter, a fourth-grader at Bryan County Elementary School, Sophie Giorgianni, a fifth-grader at G.W. Carver Elementary School, and Conner Shortridge, an eighth-grader at Richmond Hill Middle School battled it out in the school’s media center before a panel of four teachers and a hefty dictionary.
Giorgianni reigned supreme when she correctly spelled “bureaucracy” and “flamboyant” to beat Shortridge. She will head to the district bee Feb. 26 at the Waycross College Auditorium in Waycross.
Students in grades 4-8 compete in a spelling bee at the classroom level each year. The winner in each class competes for the school title, and from there may advance to system, district, state and national spelling bees.