Peetz student spells his way to state competition

Peetz School sixth-grader Gus Cowan of Sidney spelled his way through the Northeast Colorado Spelling Bee this week in Brush, Colo., placing sixth overall.

Cowan competed against about 150 students from 15 different northeast Colorado school districts in a written spelling test before qualifying along with 31 other spellers to the verbal round.

"It's really impressive that he's only in sixth grade and beat out seventh- and eight-graders," said Peetz Language Arts teacher Virginia Splichal. "We are pretty proud of him."

The Northeast Colorado Spelling Bee had 15 finalists advance to the 75th Annual Colorado State Spelling Bee that is sponsored by the Denver Post. Cowan will compete on March 14 at the University of Denver's Strum Hall.

The state winner moves on to the national competition in Washington, D.C.