Chinook Speller Wins Third Place in Treasure State Spelling Bee

On March 22, more than 50 of Montana's top spellers gathered in the Strand Union Building's Ballroom A at Montana State University in Bozeman for the 60th Annual Treasure State Spelling Bee. When all the spell-downs and spell-offs were complete, Cynnloch Gibson, an eighth grader at Chinook Junior High School, had emerged as the State's third place winner.

This was the second time Gibson had competed in the Treasure State Spelling Bee. Having attended when he was in the fifth grade, the now thirteen-year-old son of Hugo (aka Mike) and Danelle Gibson set a goal to improve with this showing. So,...