(KAIR)--A total of forty-seven 5th through 8th grade students representing every county school competed Wednesday in the Atchison County Spelling Bee, held at Trinity Lutheran School in Atchison.

Taking first place was Trinity Hemp, 8th grade student at Saint Benedict Catholic School in Atchison.

Trinity correctly spelled “fervently”, followed by correctly spelling “installation” to take the top honor, and now advances to the Topeka Capital Journal Regional Spelling Bee, scheduled for Saturday, March 25th, in Wichita.

Runner-up honors this year went to Bryant Parker, a 7th grader, also from Saint Benedict Catholic School.

Spellers represented Atchison Elementary School, Atchison Middle School, Saint Benedict Catholic School, Trinity Lutheran School, Atchison County Community Elementary School, and Atchison County Community Middle School.