Mar 16, 2021
While so many things around us changed in the past year, it’s refreshing to know that some things have not.
One of those is that hard work and preparation can pay big dividends.
We saw that Saturday, when Isabella Fletcher won the Jefferson-Harrison County Regional Spelling Bee presented by the Herald-Star.
This year’s event was virtual, which meant that the competitors and bee officials were spread among several sites across the area. It had a very different feel from the other regional bees. There was no stage to compete on or a crowd of several hundred to view the event.
Staff writer
TOP FINISHERS â Isabella Fletcher, seated at center in the left lower box, a seventh grader at Harding Middle School, emerged the winner of the 2021 Jefferson-Harrison County Regional Spelling Bee, in which 46 pupils from through the two counties participated virtually to practice social distancing. Appearing with her on a large screen at the Jefferson County Educational Service Centerâs R. Larry George Training Annex at the eventâs closing were other top finishers: Mary Jones, an eighth grader with the Heart of Mary Homeschool Association, second; Luke Kanzelberger, an eighth grader at Bishop John King Mussio Junior High School, third; Angelo Martello, a sixth grader at Harding Middle School, fourth; Abigail Dennis, a seventh-grader at Indian Creek Middle School, fifth; Ava Mizak, a fifth-grader at Bishop John King Mussio, sixth; Adrianna Swartz, an eighth grader at Toronto Junior High School, seventh; Kylie Moffat, a seventh-grader at Bishop John King M
rgallabrese@heraldstaronline.com
Slowly, but surely, things all around are starting to get a little closer to what we remember as being normal.
And that’s encouraging, especially when you look back and think about how much we’ve gone through in the past year.
We’ve experienced stay-at-home orders, seen businesses and restaurants forced to operate on reduced hours or closed (some, sadly, permanently) and been kept from seeing friends and relatives.
Then there are all of the gatherings and events that had become staples in our lives that had to be canceled or, in some cases, shifted to a virtual format.