Seventeen sixth-graders from schools across Steele County competed in Thursday's Spelling Bee on the KRFO stage at the Steele County Free Fair.

After a few rounds of tricky words, eventually only two spellers remained. Laura Gebur of St. Mary's School and Lauren Phelps of Willow Creek School, both in Owatonna, were the finalists. For the final round, Lauren went first. Her word was "jettison," which she misspelled. The same word went to Laura, who also misspelled it. The girls moved on to "foible." Lauren, again going first, misspelled the word. Laura got it correct and then had to spell another word correctly to become the champion. Laura's word was "fluctuation"; she got it correct.

Congratulations to Laura and Lauren, and to all of Thursday's spellers, on an excellent and entertaining display of spelling skills!

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