Seventh-grader Julianna Fry won the Martin Meylin Middle School Spelling Bee on Dec. 7. This was the first in-person academic competition at Martin Meylin in nearly two years.

Twenty-seven middle school students participated in this year's spelling bee. Sixteen remained by round three, and only four were left standing by round eight. Seventh-graders Finlee Parrish and Lilah Schwartz had battled for the alternate spot, with Lilah winning after correctly spelling ziggurat. Spelling continued, with Ben Rimert placing fourth and Manav Joshi placing third. Eighth-grader Eliana Ruiz came in second, and Julianna won by spelling canola. There were 11 rounds of spelling in all, the most in recent memory.

Julianna and the rest of the finalists will now advance to the next level of the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition - a written qualifier test for the Capital Region Spelling Bee in Harrisburg. Top spellers from each regional bee will compete in Washington, D.C., on June 2. The event will be aired live on ION and Bounce.

In addition to the aforementioned contestants, the spelling bee participants were Jedidiah Barrall, Abigail Brenneian, Lucas Crawford, Addison Deckman, Abigail Gawne, Avery Denlinger, Olivia Frelak, Rosalie Glick, Jillian Groff, William Immel, Eil Izquieta, Daphne Jeandell, Bethwel Kemoi, Dasia Kenyon, Julia Knapp, Holden Mencarini, Oliver Rivera, Lilah Schwartz, Elizabeth Shiffer, Leiana Smashers, Isaac Staley and Gianna Walmer.