Staples, Minn.,
07
March
2018
|
23:52 PM
Europe/Amsterdam

Royalton's Chloe Holoman Wins Lakes Bee

Holoman to represent Region 5 at the Scripps National Spelling Bee May 27-June 1

Chloe Holoman is headed to Washington, D.C., the end of May to represent central Minnesota at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Holoman, an 8th grader, from Royalton, outlasted 30 participants and spelled all of her words correctly through 10 rounds to earn the title of 2018 Lakes Bee Champion. The word to secure her win was “einkorn” – an ancient Mediterranean wheat used as fodder in prehistoric times but now rarely grown.

According to her, that was not her most challenging word of the day.

“'Persistent' was my toughest word,” Holoman said. “I couldn’t remember if it was 'ent' or ‘ant’. I was glad to get that one over with.”

The two-time champion of Royalton’s spelling bee and two-time participant of the Lakes Bee is the first student from Royalton to win the regional spelling bee. Holoman says she's excited but knows she has a lot of studying ahead of her before she heads to the national bee.

Her mom, Christina Holoman, says she helped her daughter prepare for Wednesday's competition by quizzing her on words and looking up pronunciations. She says Chloe is an avid reader and has had a knack for writing and spelling from a very young age.

“She could write her name by the time she was two or three years old,” she said. “It was very exciting watching her up on stage today. I'm very proud of her.”

Esme Pool, 8th grader from Aitkin was second runner-up while Nicholas Backstrom, 8th grader from Brainerd finished third.

Official Program/History & Records

2018 Lakes Bee Participants

Esme Pool, Grade 8, Aitkin

Alex Mateyka, Grade 6, Aitkin

Isaac Blashack, Grade 8, Bertha-Hewitt

Michael Kuehn, Grade 8, Brainerd

Grace Aadland, Grade 8, Brainerd

Max Holmstrom, Grade 7, Brainerd

Emily Jaehnert, Grade 8, Brainerd

Nicholas Backstrom, Grade 8, Brainerd

Edith Chamberlain, Grade 7, Brainerd

Elizabeth Joque, Grade 7, Brainerd

Danika Dik, Grade 6, Crosslake Community Charter

Guy Clemons Virnig, Grade 5, Holy Trinity Catholic

Will Jorgensen, Grade 7, Little Falls

Katrina Berg, Grade 6, Little Falls

Erik Anez, Grade 8, Little Falls

Megan Hillukka, Grade 5, Menahga

Erin Kempka, Grade 7, Pequot Lakes

Madeleine Hoag, Grade 5, Pequot Lakes

Lynn Skiba, Grade 8, Pierz

Caleb Kuske, Grade 8, Pierz

Randall Yost, Grade 8, Pine River-Backus

Chloe Holoman, Grade 8, Royalton

Gavin Kiser, Grade 8, Sebeka

William Thew, Grade 8, Staples-Motley

Jadyn Vogel, Grade 8, Staples-Motley

Lucas Miller, Grade 7, Swanville

Alyssa Young, Grade 6, Upsala

Jamie Hahn, Grade 8, Verndale

Madison Packer, Grade 8, Wadena-Deer Creek

About NJPA

Sourcewell (formerly National Joint Powers Alliance) is a self-supporting government organization, partnering with education, government, and nonprofits to boost student and community success. Created in 1978 as one of Minnesota's nine service cooperatives, we offer training and shared services to our central-Minnesota members. Throughout North America, we offer a cooperative purchasing program with over 200 awarded vendors on contract. Sourcewell is driven by service and the ability to strategically reinvest in member communities.