EACC hosted the 2017 St. Francis County Spelling Bee on Friday, January 20th in the EACC Lecture Hall. Kara Doss, EACC Director of Continuing Education served as the event coordinator. EACC Librarian, Paige Laws, served as the pronouncer/facilitator and judges for this year’s event were EACC faculty and staff members Dowell Taylor and Lindsay Midkiff, as well as retired teacher Teresa Dallas. The 2017 St. Francis County Spelling Bee winner was fourth grader Marie Manley from Palestine Wheatley Elementary School, who correctly spelled the word promulgate to capture the title.  The first runner-up was Trevor Brock, fourth grade student from Stewart Elementary School in Forrest City. 

Students in the 4th through 8th grades from various county schools including Lincoln Middle School Academy of Excellence, Stewart Elementary, Palestine Wheatley Elementary School, and Palestine Wheatley High School participated in the competition to determine the top speller from the area. There were 19 students vying for the title. The winner is slated to compete at the Arkansas State Spelling Bee sponsored by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette to be held at the Harold E. Cooper Educational Complex at Central Baptist College in Conway on Saturday, March 4th.  The final competition will be held at the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.  The event was sponsored by the Continuing Education Department at EACC.   

Photo from left: First Runner-Up Trevor Brock and Winner Marie Manley