School notes: Huron, Edison, Huron County spelling bee

Want to see your student or teacher featured on the Schools page? Email news, photos and questions to reporter Caitlin Nearhood at nearhood@sanduskyregister.com. HURON • In late April, Huron High School sophomore drawing student TJ Murray won the 2023 Ohio Governor's Art Show at the regional level in the drawing division. All artwork must be original. TJ created a self-portrait using foreshortening in pencil. HURON COUNTY • On Monday, Bellevue Middle School eighth-grader Samuel Kinney won the Huron County Spelling Bee hosted by North Point Educational Service Center. Sam is a gifted speller who was also the champion in last year's Bee. The event hosted 40 students from six Huron County school districts and one parochial school at the Ernsthausen Performing Arts Center. Each student had earned their spot in the contest by qualifying as one of the top spellers in their respective schools. Words were given from the National Bee format, allowing students to request the words be used in a sentence, state their origin and their definitions. More than 120 words were given, and it took ten rounds for the winners to be decided. Each of the four top spellers received a "Bee" trophy, and the Kinney will have his name added to the traveling trophy plaque which will remain at his school until the next Spelling Bee. This year's other winners were: • Teddy Ballard, a sixth-grader from Monroeville Schools, took second place. • Colton Harvey, a fifth-grader from Monroeville Schools, took third place. • Reyli Alejandro, a seventh grader from St. Francis Xavier in Willard, took fourth place. MILAN Edison High School senior Marina Moore is the Berlin Heights Kiwanis' May student of the month. She has been chosen for her contributions to Edison High School and the Berlin Heights and Milan communities. Marina's school activities and accomplishments include National Honor Society; Firelands Challenge team co-captain; chess club president; Interact club; National Spanish Honor Society; Spanish club officer; honor roll all four years; and Huron Public Library's teen library council. Marina will attend Vassar College in New York to major in biology and then pursue her doctorate degree in paleontology or an adjacent field. She is the daughter of Mike and Melissa Moore of Berlin Heights.