Kinley Strahm, a 6th grade student at Blackhawk Christian School, is the champion of the Region 8 Education Service Center/NE Indiana regional spelling bee sponsored by: Grand Canyon University, Garmann Miller Architects & Engineers, Barton Coe & Vilamaa Architects, and The AME Group. Her winning word was “surveillance,” meaning “continuous observation of a person or area.” The Regional Final competition involved 23 spellers that originally started with 74 local schools, lasted 9 rounds plus 2 Championship rounds.
Spellers competed at the Allen County Public Library – Downtown Branch on March 21, 2026, in the Theatre. Holly Wenning served as pronouncer for the competition, and the judges – tasked with tracking every word and verifying spelling accuracy – were Cindy McKinney and Matt Perry. Spellers studied “Words of the Champions,” the 4,000-word list provided by the Scripps National Spelling Bee, to prepare for the competition.
Strahm now advances to compete in the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee this summer in Washington, D.C. The semifinals on May 27 and the finals on May 28 will be televised on ION and broadcast from the Bee’s new competition venue, DAR Constitution Hall…