Tolt Middle School hosted its annual spelling bee Tuesday, Feb. 12, and the event went several rounds before a champion emerged. Gabby Klocek spelled “tentacle” correctly to win the school bee, and represent Tolt at the King and Snohomish Counties Scripps Spelling Bee at Seattle’s Town Hall at the end of March.

She also won a year’s subscription to two online resources, Encyclopedia Britannica and the language-learning program Powerspeak. Also participating in the Tolt Middle School spelling bee were Emily Bodenbender, Jackson Burpee, Amanda Carl, Tristan Caryl, Meghan Conway, Aiden Darrington, Daniel Deal, Mason Dunbar, Noha Elbahouty, Angelique Elkins, Melissa Elkins, Isabella Ferguson, Lexi Gavigan, Brandon Huntziker, Rosie King, Clayton Kristiansen, Annaka Kuiken, Jake Miles, Kelly Mitchell, Madison Oversby, Isabella Pasqualis, Alexander Sawyer, Kenzie Sharman, Lance Smith, Mason Szekely, and Meredith Tenney.