Carson Walker

1 week ago | ktiv.com | Carson Walker

BROOKINGS, S.D. (South Dakota News Watch) - The Brookings eighth grader who represented South Dakota at this week’s Scripps National Spelling Bee made it to the third round of the contest that was won by a 13-year-old from Allen, Texas, who was runner-up last year. Amanuel Gemechis, a 14-year-old student at George S. Mickelson Middle School in Brookings, earned the trip by out-spelling 27 other elementary and middle schoolers in March at the state spelling bee in Mitchell.

2 weeks ago | sdnewswatch.org | Carson Walker

South Dakota News Watch is adding a full-time reporter who will focus on rural and Native American communities across the state as a Report for America corps member. Molly Wetsch was born and raised in South Dakota. Her family comes from farming towns and the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, so she understands the issues that are unique to both communities.

2 months ago | mitchellrepublic.com | Carson Walker

MITCHELL — Amanuel Gemechis, a 14-year-old student at George S. Mickelson Middle School in Brookings, will represent South Dakota in the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington. The eighth-grader out-spelled 27 other elementary and middle schoolers on Saturday at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell. The winning word: meringue. "I love the spelling bee," Amanuel said afterward. "It helps me learn a lot.

2 months ago | bhpioneer.com | Carson Walker

MITCHELL — Paul Lloyd-Davies fondly remembers his first and only participation in a spelling bee. The 72-year-old was in middle school at Sacred Heart Elementary in Aberdeen and entered the contest on a whim. “They started slinging the words out and it narrowed and narrowed until there was this gorgeous brainiac in the class and me. We went a few rounds and we got to a word I think was volcano,” Lloyd-Davies said, recalling that he believes he added an “e” on the end.

2 months ago | sdnewswatch.org | Carson Walker

MITCHELL, S.D. – Paul Lloyd-Davies fondly remembers his first and only participation in a spelling bee. The 72-year-old was in middle school at Sacred Heart Elementary in Aberdeen and entered the contest on a whim. "They started slinging the words out and it narrowed and narrowed until there was this gorgeous brainiac in the class and me. We went a few rounds and we got to a word I think was volcano," he said, recalling that he believes he added an "e" on the end.