Brheanna Boyles, a seventh-grader at Buckeye Local Junior High School, placed first in the Buckeye Local School District Spelling Bee held Wednesday at Buckeye Local High School. Boyles correctly spelled the word “refinery,” a noun that means an industrial facility where a substance is refined, to claim the win. Taking part in the awards ceremony were, from left, front, Boyles; Gabby Gibbons, a fifth-grader at Buckeye Elementary South, second; and Shylee Adlinger, an eighth-grader at Buckeye Junior High School, third; and back, Superintendent Coy Sudvary; Bella Smith, a fifth-grader at Buckeye Elementary South, fourth; Carson Fields, an eighth-grader at Buckeye Junior High School, fifth; Sophia Davis, a fifth-grader at Buckeye North Elementary, alternate; and Susan Nolan, the bee’s coordinator and principal of Buckeye North Elementary. The top five spellers and alternate will advance to the Jefferson-Harrison County Regional Spelling Bee, presented by the Herald-Star, at 11 a.m. March 14 at Buckeye North Elementary School in Brilliant.

— Warren Scott