EACC in partnership with Woodruff Electric Cooperative hosted the 2023 St. Francis County Spelling Bee on Friday, February 24th in the EACC Fine Arts Center.  Logan Brasfield, EACC Director of Community Education served as the event coordinator. EACC Librarian, Paige Laws, served as the pronouncer/facilitator and judges for this year's event were Christine Williams, EACC Secondary Career Center Coordinator, Carly Dillard, EACC Marketing Coordinator, and Beth Vaccaro with Woodruff Electric Cooperative.

The 2023 St. Francis County Spelling Bee winner was Layla Haynes, 7th grade student from Palestine-Wheatley School District, who correctly spelled the word ordained to capture the title.  The first runner-up was Sophia Lansdale, 5th grade student from Palestine-Wheatley School District. 

St. Francis County schools with students in 4th through 8th grades were invited to participate in the competition to determine the top speller from the area.  This year, there were 22 students from Forrest City School District and Palestine Wheatley School District vying for the title. The winner is slated to compete at the Arkansas State Spelling Bee sponsored by the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, which will be held at the Vines Center in Little Rock on Saturday, March 11th.  The final competition will be held at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.  The event was sponsored by the Community Education Department at EACC and Woodruff Electric Cooperative.