Rosemary Clarke 6th-grader places in top 3 at state spelling bee

Special to the Parhump Valley Times Jaycie Hayes, a sixth-grader at Rosemary Clarke Middle School in Pahrump, placed third in the Nevada State Spelling Bee on March 25 in Las Vegas.

Special to the Pahrump Valley Times Savannah Sherbahn, a seventh-grader at Round Mountain Middle School with the trophy she won for being the top seventh-grade speller at the Nye County District Spelling Bee earlier this year. Sherbahn placed eighth in the state competition.

Special to the Pahrump Valley Times Cayden Dragna, a fifth-grade student at JG Johnson Elementary School, took 18th place in the Nevada State Spelling Bee. He's shown here with his teacher Heidi Tokerud.

Special to the Pahrump Valley Times Konner Johnson, an eighth-grader at Amargosa Middle School, took 30th place in the Nevada State Spelling Bee. He's shown here with Britney Varao, NCSC C&I director, after winning first place among eighth-graders in the district spelling bee earlier this year.

Special to the Pahrump Valley Times Jaycie Hayes, a sixth-grader at Rosemary Clarke Middle School shows off her trophy after placing first among sixth-graders in the Nye County District Spelling Bee earlier this year. Hayes placed third in the state bee in Las Vegas. Also pictured is Melissa Vinstant Sanchez, spelling bee coordinator for the school and Erin Jerabek, principal.

Special to the Pahrump Valley Times Savannah Sherbahn, a seventh-grader at Round Mountain Middle School with the trophy she won for being the top seventh-grade speller at the Nye County District Spelling Bee earlier this year. Sherbahn placed eighth in the state competition.

Special to the Pahrump Valley Times Savannah Sherbahn, a seventh-grader at Round Mountain Middle School with the trophy she won for being the top seventh-grade speller at the Nye County District Spelling Bee earlier this year. Sherbahn placed eighth in the state competition.

Jaycie Hayes, a sixth-grader at Rosemary Clarke Middle School in Pahrump, placed third in the Nevada State Spelling Bee.

The competition, held March 25 at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, brought together several of the state’s top fifth- through eighth-grade spellers for a chance to compete in the national bee later this year.

Hayes was bested only by two Nevada seventh-graders on Saturday: Le’majion Holmes, from Hyde Park Middle School (second place); and Sarina Ali, from Omar Haikal Islamic Academy (first place).

Ali will be joining Erin Feliciano, from the Mariean Tiberti Las Vegas Diocesan Spelling Bee at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. at the end of May.

Nye County was well-represented at this year’s state bee, after sending several local spellers who were among the tops at the district spelling bee held in February in Pahrump. Here’s a look at how they did:

• Savannah Sherbahn, a seventh-grade student at Round Mountain Middle School, took eighth place in the state bee.
• Cayden Dragna, a fifth-grade student at JG Johnson Elementary School, took 18th place.
• Konner Johnson, an eighth-grade student at Amargosa Middle School, took 30th place.

You can see coverage from the district’s elementary school spelling bee for kindergarten- through fourth-graders online at pvtimes.com.

Contact Editor Brent Schanding at bschanding@pvtimes.com.