contributed photo On Jan. 30, Sartell area students found themselves spelling words like “macrocosm,” “circadian” and “scintillation” in the District 748 Spelling Bee. Spelling bee participants included the following: (front row, kneeling left to right) Elaine Lo, Adrianne Gefre, Brinn Akervik, Jacob Franzmeier and Carter Vonderahe; (second row, standing) Carter Hemmesch, Matt Pallansch, Elizabeth Hamak (St. Francis), Nora Steil, Julianna Moore and Deborah Ufearo; (back row) Jaden Nguyen, Greta Mahowald, Jake Anderson, Jacob Stolzenberg (St. Francis), Katelynn Leigh, Janagan Ramanathan and Mara Borgeson. Eighth-grader Anderson placed first by spelling the most words correctly; second place was awarded to seventh-grader Borgeson and third place went to eighth-grader Franzmeier. These students represented Sartell-St. Stephen schools at the Regional Spelling Bee Feb. 13 at Resource Training and Solutions in Sartell. Eighteen students in grades 5-8 participated in the district competition. To advance to that level, students participated in spelling bees in their classrooms and then in their grade levels. Students from each grade advanced to the district competition along with two students from St. Francis Xavier. Earning the opportunity to participate in the district competition was a huge accomplishment in itself. A special thank you to Mastoni’s Pizza of Sartell and Texas Roadhouse, who donated gift certificates to each participant, Coborn's for donating alphabet pasta for each participant and to Traut Wells for donating water for refreshments. Congratulations to all District 748 spelling bee participants!