Smithfield Middle School hosted its first Spelling Bee competition Dec. 6.

There were 24 participants from each of the teams representing both seventh and eighth grades. Seventh-grade English teacher Katherine Schoenhoff organized the event, and classroom competitions were also held by the school’s English teachers.

The winner, Katelyn Kelly, will move on to represent Smithfield Middle School at the next level of competition in The Virginian-Pilot Spelling Bee. Daniel Correia took home second place, and the third place winner was Kieran Murphy.

The competition will be televised on WHRO at 2 p.m. Feb. 9.

“I would like to send out a huge thank you to everyone involved in making the Smithfield Middle School’s first and now annual Spelling Bee such a huge hit,” said Principal Jeff Mordica. “The excitement displayed by our staff members, students, parents and community members was infectious. All of our spelling champions did a super job, and the contest went right down to the wire.”