Pictured above (from left): Brodie Morrison, first-place speller at last week’s Independence County Spelling Bee; CeeBee; and Madison Bates, runner-up.
Eighth-grader Brodie Morrison outspelled 16 other competitors from seven area schools to become the 2025 Independence County Spelling Bee winner on Tuesday, Feb. 4. Madison Bates, an eighth-grade Cedar Ridge High School student, was the runner-up.
This year’s bee lasted eight rounds; the winning word was “bureau.”
Morrison, a Cedar Ridge High School student, is now qualified to compete in the Arkansas State Spelling Bee in Little Rock on March 8.
Citizens Bank sponsors the Independence County Spelling Bee, which is hosted by the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville in Independence Hall. Seventeen competitors from area schools, ranging from third to eighth grade, participated.
Morrison and Bates received $50 and $25 gift cards, respectively, courtesy of Citizens Bank. Citizens Bank’s CeeBee and Ashley Engles presented the awards.
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