The Middle Tennessee 2012 Regional Spelling Bee was held on the campus of Belmont University in the Trout Theatre on March 2. Middle school students from across Middle Tennessee competed in the single-elimination competition sponsored by Belmont’s New Centry Journalism Program and the law offices of Baker Donelson.
The competition featured 36 students, each either the winners or runners-up from county spelling bees, representing 27 Middle Tennessee schools.
Grace Park of Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet School won the spelling bee after spelling “jimberjawed,” a projecting lower jaw. Park advances to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in late May. She also earned a $50 savings bond, a Webster’s dictionary and trophies for her school and herself.
Journalism faculty Dorren Robinson and Sybril Bennett as well as English instructor Sue Trout were judges. Public relations assistant professor Kevin Trowbridge served as pronouncer.