Madison Reporter

Benjamin Tekin, a seventh-grader from O'Keeffe Middle School, has emerged as the champion of this year's All-City Spelling Bee. Competing against 37 of Madison's best student spellers, Benjamin secured first place and will now advance to the Badger State Spelling Bee next month.

"Winning a citywide bee—competing against students from every school in Madison—was surprising, but I was really happy about it," Benjamin expressed. "I didn’t expect to win; I was just hoping to make it to state, but then I won, and I was like, wow!"

Casey Barnhill, an eighth-grader at Velma Hamilton Middle School, achieved second place in the competition. Both Benjamin and Casey will represent CESA 2 at the state-level contest scheduled for March 29 at Madison College.

Recognition is also due to all 28 students from the Madison Metropolitan School District who participated in this year’s spelling bee. Their effort and commitment are commendable.