2026 LAPS District Spelling Bee winners from left, Hannah Li, 1st place; Fynn Johnson, 2nd place; and Oliver Truong, 3rd place. Li and Johnson will represent LAPS at the New Mexico State Qualifying Spelling Bee at the end of February. Courtesy/LAPS
Volunteers for this year’s District Spelling Bee include, front row from left, judges Debbie Grothaus, Morrie Pongratz and Sondra Wymanback, and back row from left, Jeff Favorite, pronouncer; Jonathan Richardson, coordinator; Nancy Brugh, emcee/recordkeeper and Tammy Hinckley, timekeeper. Courtesy/LAPS
LAPS News:
For the third year in a row, Hannah Li is the 2026 Los Alamos Public Schools (LAPS) District Spelling Bee champion. Li, an 8th grader at Los Alamos Middle School (LAMS), correctly spelled “acetone” to be declared the winner. This year’s contest lasted through 16 rounds before a winner was determined.
Fynn Johnson, a 6th grader at Mountain Elementary, earned the 2nd place trophy and Aspen Elementary 4th grader Oliver Truong placed 3rd.
Sixteen students, representing Aspen Elementary, Barranca Mesa Elementary, Chamisa Elementary, Mountain Elementary, Piñon Elementary and LAMS, participated in this year’s district spelling bee held Wednesday night in the Los Alamos High Speech Theater.
Li and Johnson will each complete an online qualifying test at the end of February. The students with the top 25 scores in New Mexico will qualify to compete at the State Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 21. The state sends one representative to the National Scripps Spelling Bee that takes place in May. Last year Hannah placed third in the state competition.
Emcee and recordkeeper for this year’s District Spelling Bee was Nancy Brugh. Judges for the contest included Debbie Grothaus, Morrie Pongratz and Sondra Wyman. Tammy Hinckley was the timekeeper, and Jeff Favorite stepped in as the pronouncer.
Hosts for the evening were the Los Alamos High School Activities Department; LAPS Superintendent Jennifer Guy, Director of Curriculum Dr. Sharon Fogle, Assistant Director of Curriculum Davine Jones, and Curriculum Specialist Jonathan Richardson.
School site spelling bees were held in December. The top finishers at each participating school site were then eligible to compete at the district contest. School site coordinators include Holly Robinson, Aspen Elementary; Candice Kuykendall, Barranca Elementary; Gayle Eustis, Chamisa Elementary; Shanda Moore, Mountain Elementary; Bonnie James, Piñon Elementary; and Giovanna Garofalo, Los Alamos Middle School.
Students representing all five elementary schools and the middle school participated in the 2026 LAPS District Spelling Bee held on Wednesday night in the Speech Theater at LAHS. Courtesy/LAPS
School site Spelling Bee Coordinators include, from left, Bonnie James, Piñon Elementary; Giovanna Garofalo, Los Alamos Middle School; Gayle Eustis, Chamisa Elementary; Candice Kuykendall, Barranca Elementary; and Holly Robinson, Aspen Elementary. (Not pictured: Shanda Moore, Mountain Elementary). Courtesy/LAPS