Turlock Junior High School eighth-grader Frances Haydock finished in third place at the Stanislaus County Office of Education Spelling Bee and will serve as an alternate to compete in the State Championship in San Rafael on May 2, 2015 if the first or second place winners Liah Kim of Prescott Junior High and Sam Victorio of Oakdale Junior High, respectively, are unable to compete.
Frances beat out 33 other top spellers from 20 junior high schools throughout Stanislaus County at the Spelling Bee, held Tuesday at the Martin G. Petersen Event Center in Modesto.
Some of the words the top 3 finishers spelled correctly include, perseverance, onomatopoeia and reconnaissance.
Other local standouts at the County Spelling Bee:
| Gold Medal Winners | ||
| Name | Grade | School |
| Nancy Cedeno | 8 | Sacred Heart |
| Ibrahim Dagher | 7 | Dutcher Middle School |
| Joven Hundal | 7 | Dutcher Middle School |
| David Zhang | 7 | Turlock Junior High School |
| Silver Medal Winners | ||
| Noemi Mercado | 7 | Mountain View |
| Mirna Molina | 8 | Mountain View |
| Nicholas Rocha | 8 | Sacred Heart |
