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ALACHUA COUNTY – Students who competed in their schools and took top honors in spelling were welcomed to Terwilliger Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 16, to compete at the district level in a highly-competitive spelling bee. The competition drew high-achieving elementary and middle school students from 34 schools throughout Alachua County.

Thirteen rounds of competition were nerve-wracking for students and their families. Patrick Gallagher, who patiently listed word origins, defined the meaning of words and used the target words in sentences several times throughout the afternoon, periodically asked the students and their families to take a deep breath to help break the tension.

Gallagher, who teaches AP Language and Composition at Buchholz High School, patiently explained the procedures for students to follow at the beginning of the event and the students worked in an orderly manner to appear before the judges at the microphone to spell their words. Some of the students seemed to handwrite their word into one of their hands with the other to use muscle memory to help them come up with the correct spelling.

The event judges had a small bell at their table and rang the tiny tinkling sound whenever a word was misspelled. Students who missed a word went to their seats and waited until the end of the round to join their families in the audience or leave the auditorium.

By the fifth round the group had been whittled down to seven students. By the seventh round only four students remained. By the eighth round only two students remained. By the ninth round the two remaining students, Abhith Kasala from Lincoln Middle School and Jeevan George of Hidden Oaks Elementary School, were correctly spelling “epilepsy” and “reggae.” Round 10 words were “resplendence” and “espousal.” Round 11 saw both boys correctly spelling “complacency” and “paisley.” In Round 12 Jeevan George correctly spelled “antics,” but Abhith misspelled “mottled.”

Jeevan George was given one last word to spell in Round 13 and it was "churn,” which he spelled correctly and that ended the head-to-head competition of two of the best spellers in Alachua County.

Both boys received a medal to commemorate their first and second place wins. George also received an engraved plaque.

Due to his win, George will be representing this district as Bee Champion at the 78th Annual First Coast Regional Spelling Bee on Friday, April 1. This event will take place via Zoom.

Alachua County School District representative Don Fitzpatrick explained how that will work. “The student will receive a Zoom link along with the other spellers from our region. He and the other spellers will be un-muted when it is their turn to spell.” The winner of that competition will go on to compete in the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

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ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - Alachua County, in partnership with the City of Newberry, is dedicating the arena at the Alachua County Agriculture and Equestrian Center (23100 W. Newberry Road, Newberry) in honor of former Alachua County Commissioner Lee Pinkoson. The dedication is on Friday, March 4, 2022, at 5:45 p.m. The public is invited to attend. Face masks are strongly encouraged when social distancing is not possible. 

NEWBERRY ‒ Candidate qualifying for the City of Newberry’s Municipal Election closed on Feb. 24. The election is scheduled for April 12, 2022. Each commissioner serves two-year terms in Newberry with no term limits. All seats are elected at large and are non-partisan.

Commissioners for Groups I, II and III are elected in even years. Incumbents for those seats are Ricky Coleman, Mark Clark and Monty Farnsworth, respectively.

Citizens eligible to vote in City of Newberry elections must be residents and must be registered to vote with the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections. The voter registration book closing date is Monday, March 14, 2022. Residents must be registered to vote by this date.

Residents who are already registered to vote are encouraged to verify and, if needed, update their registration by visiting RegisterToVoteFlorida.gov online or by contacting the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections office. For additional voting information, registration or questions, citizens should visit VoteAlachua.com.

On Tuesday, April 12, the polls will be open from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. A photo ID, with signature, will be required. All City of Newberry residents may vote on election day at the Municipal Building, 25420 W. Newberry Road, Newberry.

The City of Newberry does not provide early voting in municipal-only elections. However, if a citizen wishes to vote by mail, they may call the City Clerk’s office at 352-472-2161, ext. 7 for additional information.

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alachuatoday.com

ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a press release alerting consumers to avoid purchasing or using certain powdered infant formula products produced in Abbott Nutrition’s facility in Sturgis, Michigan. This is an ongoing investigation, and Abbott has initiated a voluntary recall of the potentially affected product. The FDA’s full press release can be found here.

• The first two digits of the code are 22 through 37
• The code on the container contains K8, SH, or Z2
• The expiration date is 4-1-2022 (APR 2022) or later

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ The City of High Springs has added four officers to the police department.  During the Feb. 10 City Commission meeting four new High Springs Police officers were formally sworn in by Sgt. Jason Taylor.

School Resource Officer (SRO) Debra Parker joined the High Springs Police Department in July 2021, after 27 years with the Gainesville Police Department.  Fourteen of those years were spent as SRO at Gainesville schools.  SRO Parker is currently assigned to First Christian Academy.

School Resource Officer Duane Gainey joined the High Springs Police Department in March 2021.  SRO Gainey is presently assigned to High Springs Community School.

School Resource Officer Adrian Lumpkins joined the High Springs Police Department July 2021.  Officer Lumpkins began his law enforcement career in 2002.  He has focused most of his career teaching youth to make better choices.  SRO Lumpkins is assigned to the High Springs Community School.

Patrol Officer Austin Dampier joined the High Springs Police Department in October 2021.  Officer Dampier comes from a law enforcement family, where his father, Freddie Dampier, previously served as Police Chief for the Alachua Police Department.  Officer Dampier has worked in corrections for the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Corrections, and he has worked for the Florida Department of Agriculture as a state police officer.

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alachuatoday.com