Kristin Towe, a fifth grader at Pepperell Elementary School, was the top speller in the Floyd County School system’s annual Spelling Bee, held on Friday, February 1, 2008, at 9:30 a.m. in the Board Room at the Board of Education office on Riverside Parkway . Kristin and ten other individual school spelling champions, from schools with grades 4-8, participated in the Floyd County Schools Spelling Bee. Brice Duke, from Armuchee Middle School, was the runner-up in the competition.  

Kristin was amazed and excited when she made it to the final two spellers.  “I did a lot of praying while I was up there,” she said.  Kristin spelled several difficult words to advance to the finals.  “I was really nervous when she was given the word quadrangle,” commented Kristen’s mother Tara Towe. 

Kristin put in a lot of study time getting ready to compete in the academic spell-off.  She said, “I spent a lot of time reading the dictionary to prepare.”  She also credited her teacher, Ms. Stacey Thompson, with preparing her for success.  “Ms. Thompson gives us really hard words and helps us a lot with our spelling,” she added.  Kristin won by spelling the words congratulations and economics as the final two words.

Kristin received a plaque from the Floyd County Association of Educators, sponsor of the event, to commemorate her accomplishment.  Kristin Towe and Brice Duke will represent Floyd County Schools in the District Spelling Bee.  The district event will be held on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at the Floyd County Board of Education Office. The District Spelling Bee will begin at 10:00 a.m. and will feature the top spellers from school systems in District One.

School spelling champions participating in the Floyd County Spelling Bee were: Alto Park Elementary, Cody Waters; Armuchee Elementary, Jamie Stockton; Armuchee Middle, Brice Duke; Cave Spring Elementary, Alex Mitchell; Coosa Middle School, Kyle Fleming; Garden Lakes Elementary, Victoria McGinnis; Johnson Elementary, Tyrous Calhoun; Model Elementary, Ella Claire Chambless; Model Middle School, Kevin Van Der Horn ; Pepperell Elementary, Kristin Towe; Pepperell Middle School, Andrew Outlaw.