Two Tallulah Falls students dominated their grade-level and school-wide spelling bee competitions, which advanced them into the Georgia Independent School Association Spelling Bee.
Josh Lander and Morgan Ward, both 8th grade students at Tallulah Falls School, nailed two winning words that helped place them into round one of the Georgia Independent School Association Spelling Bee - those two words were 'Vesuvian' and 'preternaturally.'
The GISA Spelling Bee is a virtual event that caters to private, independent K-12 schools in the state of Georgia. Students participating in this particular spelling bee were required to take a test via the Scripps Online Test Platform.
"Lander and Ward put in countless hours of preparation before the test and their hardwork paid off," Executive Director for Advancement Sonya Smith with Tallulah Falls School said in a release Friday.
While Ward gave the first round her best effort, she did not move on to the next round. Lander, on the other hand, scored high enough on his test to move on to round two.
"Josh and Morgan have blown me away with their determination preparing for each level of the bee," Hannah Gibson, an 8th grade teacher at Tallulah Falls School, said. "It is super exciting to watch Josh move on to the next round of competition. Everyone is cheering for him."
Lander will compete alongside 29 other middle school students in the GISA region.
Round two will take place in person Feb. 28 at Mount de Sales Academy in Macon.
