Clay County held their annual Spelling Bee on Thursday, December 10th at Clay County High School Auditorium. With students from all four of Clay County’s Elementary Schools participating, there were a total of 20 students competing in the Spelling Bee for 2015. The auditorium filled with anxious, nervous students, teachers, principals and families of the participants. This year’s judges were R.B. Legg, Mary Holcomb, and Beverly Nichols. Joe Paxton was the recorder and Randy White was the announcer. The students started with a practice round to get warmed up after hearing all of the rules. Then the competition began. The students were nervous as they walked up to the microphone to take their turn. After 27 rounds, the winner was finally determined. Ms. Maddie Paxton, a 4th grader from Clay Elementary came out on top! The Top 5 winners were Maddie Paxton, 1st’; Dylan McCumbers, 2nd, both from Clay County Elementary, Cecilia Metheney, 3rd; Macy Osborne, 4th; and Autumn Hamrick, 5th; all three from Big Otter Elementary. Congratulations to all the students who participated on your accomplishment! You are all winners!