Stevensville 8th grader wins Ravalli County Spelling Bee

After correctly spelling the word “paparazzi,” eighth-grader Leika Lueders from Stevensville won the Ravalli County Spelling Bee on Tuesday night in the Hamilton High School auditorium.

Lueders was one of 17 competitors from fifth- through eighth-grade classes across the Bitterroot to approach the mic and attempt to get through as many rounds as possible without misspelling a word.

Contestants went seven rounds before Lueders took the top prize.

The Ravalli County Spelling Bee is part of the Scripps National Spelling Bee program, which this year is celebrating 101 years. A combined 11 million students will participate across the country this year.

First and second place winners from Tuesday night have the opportunity to advance to the Montana Treasure State Spelling Bee and state winners will represent Montana at the National Spelling Bee Competition in Washington, D.C., in May.

The competition for second place was maybe even more fierce than first — with Darby seventh-grader Sam Bennett and Lone Rock seventh-grader Charlotte Harless going six rounds before Bennett ultimately took the second place slot with the word “squabble.”

Lueders told the Ravalli Republic this was her first time competing at her school and she won, but she’s “worried” thinking about the statewide competition.

Lueders' father, Jim, said they will have to discuss whether she will go to the state competition because of the related travel expenses.

Lueders told the Ravalli Republic her favorite word to spell is “Archipelago,” which means a chain or collection of islands.

Ravalli Republic Clerk and Recorder’s Office Deputy Clerk Thera Mathews told each of the students their word to spell and whether they spelled it right or wrong, which she described as “wonderful, amazing and heartbreaking.”

“It was fun to see all the family and friends that came out,” said Clerk and Recorder Regina Plettenberg.