The 2025 LAPS District Spelling Bee winners are, from left, Liam Colgan, 3rd place; Hannah Li, 1st place; and Natalie Johnson, 2nd place. Hannah and Natalie will represent LAPS at the New Mexico State Qualifying Spelling Bee at the end of February. Photo Courtesy LAPS
Volunteers who helped with this year’s District Spelling Bee include, from left, Debbie Grothaus, judge; Sondra Wyman, judge; Tammy Hinckley, timekeeper; Judy Crocke, pronouncer; Davine Jones, judge, and Nancy Brugh, emcee and recordkeeper. Photo Courtesy LAPS
Students representing all five elementary schools and the middle school participated in the 2025 LAPS District Spelling Bee held Wednesday night in the high school Speech Theater. Photo Courtesy LAPS
LAPS NEWS RELEASE
The Los Alamos Public Schools 2025 Spelling Bee champion is Hannah Li. Li, a 7th grader at Los Alamos Middle school, correctly spelled “cognizant.”Natalie Johnson, a 5th grader at Mountain Elementary, earned the 2nd place trophy while Barranca Mesa Elementary School 6th grader Liam Colgan won the 3rd place trophy. Hannah was also the 2024 District Spelling Bee champion as a 6th grader at Mountain Elementary School and went on to place second in the state competition last Spring.
Seventeen students, representing Aspen Elementary, Barranca Mesa Elementary, Chamisa Elementary/LAOLA, Mountain Elementary, Piñon Elementary and LAM, participated in the district spelling bee held Wednesday night in the Los Alamos High Speech Theater. This year’s contest lasted through 17 rounds and 90 minutes before a winner was determined.
Hannah and Natalie will each complete an online qualifying test at the end of February. The students with the top 25 scores in New Mexico will qualify to compete at the State Spelling Bee
on Saturday, March 29. The state sends one representative to the National Scripps Spelling Bee that takes place in May.
Thank you to the volunteers who participated in the District Spelling Bee including judges Debbie Grothaus, Davine Jones and Sondra Wyman; timekeeper Tammy Hinckley; emcee and recordkeeper Nancy Brugh; and pronouncer Judy Crocker.
Hosts for the evening were the LAHS Activities Department; LAPS Supt Jennifer Guy,and Dr. Sharon Fogle, Director of Curriculum;and Davine Jones, Assistant Director of Curriculum.
School site sponsors include Holly Robinson, Aspen Elementary; Candice Kuykendall, Barranca
Elementary; Gayle Eustis, Chamisa Elementary; Shanda Moore, Mountain Elementary; Bonnie James, Piñon Elementary; and Seane McMahon, Los Alamos Middle School.
Photo 2 caption: Volunteers who helped with this year’s District Spelling Bee include (left to
right) Debbie Grothaus, judge; Sondra Wyman, judge; Tammy Hinckley, timekeeper; Judy
Crocke, pronouncer; Davine Jones, judge and Nancy Brugh, emcee and recordkeeper.
Photo 3 caption: Students representing all five elementary schools and the middle school
participated in the 2025 LAPS District Spelling Bee held Wednesday night in the hig