A handful of students in rural San Benito County advanced to the state spelling bee.
Jaques Morin, a fifth grader from Sacred Heart Parish School, and Chase Freeman, a sixth grader from Southside School, participated in the California State Elementary Spelling Bee Championship last month.
The students qualified for the competition in February, when Morin placed first and Freeman placed second in a county contest. The youth were eliminated in the third round of the state competition.
The elementary school spellers were not the only locals competing at the state level. Julia Pearson, an eighth grader at Rancho San Justo School, and Sean Slavich, an eighth grader at Sacred Heart Parish School, also competed after winning the top two places in the county contest. At the state level, Pearson placed 23rd and Slavich placed 29th.
