MURFREESBORO, TN - Read To Succeed (RTS) held its 20th annual Read To Bee 6th Grade Spelling Bee on Friday, April 12th at Patterson Park Community Center. The community event was sponsored by Redstone Federal Credit Union. RTS Executive Director, Jolene Radnoti, kicked off the evening by warmly welcoming everyone and emphasizing the high value of literacy.

Twelve 6th graders from Murfreesboro City and Rutherford County schools came together to compete for the title of 2024 Read To Bee Champion. After 17 rounds, Edrell Smith from Overall Creek Elementary spelled the winning word, endeavor. Ben Eaves from Rockvale Middle School was the runner-up, and Hadley Legg from Central Magnet Middle School came in third place.

Some of the more difficult words to spell during the Bee included “piteously” and “boroughs”. Lead judge Meredith Thomas said, “I am honored to participate as a judge in the Read To Succeed 6th Grade Spelling Bee and look forward to it every year! The kids are whip-smart, and their commitment to learning is truly inspiring.” Matthew Joseph of Simply Pure Sweets and Francela Salas from Redstone Federal Credit Union also judged. Michael Linn White with CityTV-City of Murfreesboro was the pronouncer.

Winner Edrell Smith was awarded the 2024 Read To Bee trophy along with a $150 cash prize from Redstone Federal Credit Union. Ben Eaves and Hadley Legg were awarded, respectively, with $100 and $50 cash prizes from Redstone.

Schools held individual spelling bees to find a winner/alternate to compete in the Read To Bee. Participating schools and winners/alternates included: Speller Kaden Norman, alternate was Kalleb White from Black Fox Elementary; Speller Jazelle Jeffery, alternate was Aubrey Ward from Bradley Academy; Speller Alex Freeman, alternate was Blake Chittaphong from Buchanan Middle School; Speller Adam Sayavong, alternate was Jacob Kim from Cason Lane Academy; Speller Hadley Legg, alternate was Anhad Jain from Central Magnet Middle School; Speller Cadence Cochran, alternate was Warren Morgan from Discovery School; Speller Ewan Mace, alternate was Angel DeLeon Diaz from John Pittard Elementary; Speller Javaeh Elgin, alternate was Domani Tillage from Mitchell-Neilson; Speller Cason Haley from Northfield Elementary; Speller Edrell Smith, alternate was Sydney Climer from Overall Creek Elementary; Speller Ben

Eaves, alternate was Abbas Taresh from Rockvale Middle School; Speller Emmery Larry from Smyrna Middle School.

Read To Succeed congratulates all of the 2024 Read To Bee spellers, school alternates, their parents, and teachers.

“Thanks to the work of Read To Succeed throughout the community, we have the opportunity to showcase the transformative impact of literacy on young minds,” said Thomas. The Bee was streamed live by Murfreesboro City TV and will be played periodically in the upcoming weeks. It was also streamed on the City of Murfreesboro, TN – Government page, Read To Succeed’s Facebook page and can be seen on the City of Murfreesboro, TN – Murfreesboro CityTV YouTube channel.

For more information on this literacy event and others in Rutherford County, please visit www.readtosucceed.org, call 615-738-READ (7323), or follow Read To Succeed on Facebook, Instagram, and X.