Odessa students shine at academic contest in Wilbur

Odessa students in grades 3 through 8 represented their town at the 2015 Bi-County Academic Contest held March 12 this year in Wilbur. The contest was attended by eight other Bi-County schools, with students competing in Spelling, Math, Speech and Geography. Of the 29 Odessa students attending the competition, 16 placed in the top six of their category.

Third-grader Jacob Scrupps took a sixth place in Spelling.

Fourth-grader Grace Nelson also took a sixth place in Spelling.

Four fifth-graders placed in the top six: Nathan Carstensen took third place in Math, Nicklas Nelson took fourth place in Interpretive Speech, Emily Scrupps was in second place in Impromptu Speech and Paul Sheldon took fourth place in Geography.

Among sixth-graders, Maddie Scrupps took fourth place in Persuasive Speech, Pilot Weishaar took first place in Impromptu Speech and Keith Strebeck nabbed a fifth place in Geography.

Five seventh-graders competed from Odessa: Eric Johnston was in fourth place in Spelling, Camden Weber took sixth place in Math, Marcus King was in third place in Persuasive Speech, Ben Melgren took third place in Geography and Brady Walter was in fourth place in Impromptu Speech.

Among eighth-graders, Megan Shafer took fourth place in Interpretive Speech and Justin Reninger nabbed first place in Geography (for the second straight year).

Odessa principal Jamie Nelson and parent Danielle Scrupps volunteered to serve as judges at the contest. Several parents of the students participating also attended and rooted for the Odessa contingent. According to Odessa third-grade teacher Tim Larson, "The students were on their best behavior. They represented Odessa nicely."