Brianna Rutt competes at regional spelling bee

Holy Redeemer School eighth grader Brianna Rutt, daughter of Bill and Sue Rutt, was declared the winner of the HRS Spelling Bee held Tuesday, Jan. 29, when she competed against 11 other students at her school. She won that bee by correctly spelling the word "pineapple". Her win automatically qualified her to compete in the 2013 Regional Spelling Bee held Tuesday, Feb. 12, at South Central College in Mankato. Brianna said she competed against over 40 other students in the region. She was nervous but she spelled her way through four rounds until she misspelled the word "kitsch". Overall she said it was a good experience and a lot of fun. The regional winner will compete to advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee held May 26 through June 1 in Washington, D.C. (Lori Nickel Photo)