Jayhawk Elementary School sixth-grader Jordyn Burns wins the Linn County Spelling Bee on Thursday, Feb. 6, by correctly spelling "anxiety."
Story and photos by Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com
One thing about spelling bees: How well you perform relies on a combination of memorization, visualization and patience. And a healthy dose of good luck.
Jayhawk Junior High School eighth-grader Tyrus Chadwick had the 2025 Linn County Spelling Bee locked up. Of the five spellers remaining on the stage at the Prairie View Performing Arts Center after four rounds, he was the only one to spell his word “accolade” correctly.
To cinch the title, though, he had to correctly spell one last word, “appraisal.” He did his due diligence. He asked for the definition, he asked for the moderator Corissa Uphoff to use it in a sentence. He did everything but ask Uphoff how to spell it. It would have been worth a shot, because he spelled using only one “p.”
Jordyn and runner-up Tyrus Chadwick, an eighth-grader from Jayhawk-Linn Junior High battled it out for the top speller.
And the game went back to the five finalists. Once again, they all missed their words except for Jayhawk Elementary School sixth-grader Jordyn Burns. She correctly spelled “realm,” then followed up by spelling “anxiety” correctly.
And by doing so, the 2025 county spelling bee had a new champion: Jordyn Burns. She will compete at the Kansas State Spelling Bee at Salina on March 22.
Aria Hale from Proverbs Christian School was one of the finalists in the bee.
Tyrus was runner-up after correctly spelling “auburn“ and then “bureau.” He was runner-up in the 2024 county spelling bee as well.
Twenty-two students started out the bee with a practice run, and all 22 were still on the stage to begin the first contest round. Fifteen students went into the third round, but the words became consistently harder and by the end of that round, only five were left.
Grace Moylan from La Cygne Elementary finished in the top five spellers.
In addition to Jordyn and Tyrus, the remaining five included Proverbs Christian Academy's Aria Hale, Grace Moylan from La Cygne Elementary, and Kora Stainbrook from Prairie View Middle School.
But those five hung tough, making it through two more rounds, before falling by the wayside as Jordyn and Tyrus battled it out.
PVMS sixth-grader Kora Stainbrook also placed in the top five.
The other contestants at the county meet were:
Jayhawk Elementary School: Sutton Seabolt, Cornyn Thomas
Jayhawk Junior High: Adrian Randall, BreAnna Walton
La Cygne Elementary: Harper Boyd, Cheyenne Newman
Parker Elementary: Dean Chapman, Taylee Dunlop, Jace Goodwin
Pleasanton Elementary: Erika Martinez, Charlotte Mitchell, Cooper Reeves
Pleasanton Junior High: Isabella Boddy, Callie Huntley, Brodie Stroud
Prairie View Middle School: Somer Spurgeon, Blake Stevenson
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