Clinton Township Eighth-Grader Wins Macomb County Spelling Bee in First Competition

Dean Handley Turner, an eighth-grader from Wyandot Middle School in Clinton Township, claimed victory at the Macomb County Regional Spelling Bee on Sunday. The contest stretched through 12 grueling rounds. Thirty-two other fifth-through-eighth graders competed. This marked his first spelling competition, and he'd entered only as a school alternate.

Dean Handley Turner spelled "lunette" to clinch the championship and conclude the spell-off with second-place finisher Isabella "Izzie" Hu. The word describes something shaped like a crescent or half-moon, per the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

The student is believed to be the first school alternate to win the county bee. He's also among only a handful to capture the crown in his first competition. Dean Handley Turner never participated in his school bee during the previous three years. He's also the first boy to win in five years.

"I was not expecting to go this far," Dean Handley Turner said minutes after winning, according to Macomb Daily. "I was expecting a bigger jump from the school spelling bee to the county spelling bee but it was fairly close."

The winner entered the bee after the Wyandot winner declined to participate. He studied most days to prepare. The competition took place at the Macomb Intermediate School District offices on Garfield Road in Clinton Township.

During the contest, the champion spelled words such as "corvid," "mugwump," "reek," "eerily," "principality," "centennial," and "porcelain." He guessed on "mugwump." A small fist pump followed his correct spelling in the 11th round.

Hu, a seventh-grader at Trinity Lutheran School in Utica, misspelled "trachea" to finish second. She'd studied only two weeks because her school bee was held in February, while most other schools held the event weeks before.

Gloria Yasmine, an eighth-grader at St. Mary Catholic School in Mount Clemens, finished third after missing "gradus." Nevada Holden, an eighth-grader at L'Anse Creuse Middle School North in Macomb Township, took fourth place. She misspelled "immotile" in the 10th round.

The champion wins a trip for two to Washington, D.C. in late May. The Scripps National Spelling Bee awaits him there. He also received the Sugarman Award and online subscriptions to Merriam-Webster and Britannica.