On Jan. 12, 2016, the rounds went on and on as 20 students from fourth through eighth grade level homeroom spelling winners vied for the chance to represent Perdido School in the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

In the championship eighth round, Ceanna Livermore and John Wesley Jenks went back and forth until Jenks correctly spelled “bossa nova” and became the Perdido School Spelling Bee champion for 2016.

Both Livermore and Jenks will continue studying as they prepare for the Baldwin County Bee to be held on Feb. 4, 2016, at the Loxley Civic Center. The county level winner advances to the Alabama Spelling Bee on March 12, 2016, in Alabaster.

State level winners go on to Washington, D.C., for the finals of the National Spelling Bee in May.

Those participating in the spelling bee included: (Fourth Grade) Ashlyn Benintende, A.J. Smith, Ashleigha Smith and Abbie Wiggins; (Fifth Grade) Ceanna Livermore, Dakota McKinley, Mason Smith and Leighann Vinson; (Sixth Grade) Chazney Livermore, Jackson Reid, Sierra Smith and Kaylee Williams; (Seventh Grade) Madison Haddock, Matthew Milstid, Dustin Snow and Reese White; (Eighth Grade) John Wesley Jenks, Travis Snider, Hunter Stewart and Aaron Ziegler.

Sixth grader Chazney Livermore was absent.