Cass County had 47 students from ten different schools registered in the Annual Spelling Bee on Friday afternoon. Chaitanya Gopi and Sophia Lequin were the top two finishers and will now advance to the State Spelling Bee held in Bismarck at the Bismarck Event Center on March 17, 2025.

Chaitanya Gopi, a fifth grader at Dakota Montessori School, finished in first place and Sophia Lequin, a sixth grader at Cheney Middle School, took second after a head-to-head spell off against Adair Enz, a sixth grader at Ben Franklin Middle school.  

The Cass County Spelling Bee started with a written session to determine who will square off in the final spell off. The top twelve scores from the written test advanced to the final session to determine the top two finishers to represent Cass County in the statewide contest.

Each county can send two students to compete for the state title. The champion will represent North Dakota at the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.