Fort Wayne Student Wins Regional Spelling Bee
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.
In addition to qualifying for the national competition, Strahm also wins these prizes:
- Britannica Online Premium, a one-year subscription for the premier online resource from Encyclopedia Britannica.
- Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online, a one-year subscription for the official word source for all levels of competition for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
- $750 Travel Gift Card – courtesy of Grand Canyon University to help offset travel costs for the winner and a parent/guardian to travel to Washington DC for the Finals.
“As a first-year coordinator of this event, the Region 8 Education Service Center was proud to be involved in creating opportunities for students across NE Indiana to participate. We are grateful to our teachers/school representatives who signed their schools up and then led building-level competitions leading to the Regional Final. Our sponsors were crucial in being able to support this competition which led to our winner moving onto Washington DC this May for the national championship” said Dr. Joshua Wenning, Executive Director for the Region 8 Education Service Center.
This is the first year for the Region 8 Education Service Center to facilitate the NE Indiana Regional Bee. The competition encourages the exploration of words and lifelong curiosity, with a focus on helping students set goals and dedicate time to study and prepare. Participation in the bee program also provides an opportunity for students to gain experience in public speaking and poise under pressure.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee provides the list of words for the regional competition. The Bee reaches millions of students across the country and in other parts of the world with the classroom materials it provides to enrolled schools.
As a part of the Indiana K-12 education system, the Region 8 Education Service Center supports 32 public school districts and over 15 private/ parochial schools across NE Indiana with services such as cooperative purchasing, professional development, grant management, and facilitation, substitute teacher management and insurance among some of their services. The organization seeks to serve their member schools by offering relevant services and resources that ultimately impact student achievement across NE Indiana.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is the nation’s largest and longest-running educational program, having launched in 1925. By inspiring the exploration of words, the Scripps National Spelling Bee illuminates pathways to lifelong curiosity, celebrates academic achievement and enriches communities.
Visit spellingbee.com for more information about the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which is administered on a not-for-profit basis by The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP).
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