Students will compete in the annual Sanders County Spelling Bee this week. The Sanders County Ledger and First Security Bank have sponsored the county spelling bee for 35 years. It is the longest privately sponsored bee in the state, according to Annie Wooden, Ledger Publisher.

Students will meet at the Sanders County Courthouse on Friday for the challenge of determining who will move on to the state bee. The top three finishers will receive trophies from The Ledger and gift cards from First Security Bank.

Schools throughout the county held bees for fourth through eight graders to determine who would qualify for the county bee. Trout Creek School will be represented by sixth grader Kolter Marjerrison, seventh graders Gavin Todd and Millie Holloway, and eighth grader Mason Ugalde-Narcia. From Plains, Miranda Dawson (fifth grade), Elisabeth Weedeman (sixth grade), Kira Barr (seventh grade) and Kalem Ercanbrack (eighth grade) will compete in the county bee. Hot Springs also is sending four spellers to the county bee, including fifth graders Ziah Hensrude and Dakota Slonaker and sixth graders Kember Keefe and Chase Depoe. From Thompson Falls, sixth grader Travis Hill, fourth grader Kaleb Susic and seventh grader Michael Koskela will attend the county bee. Four students will represent Noxon Schools at the bee, including fifth grader Rachel Cooper, eighth grader Jessy Hill, seventh grader April Keifcome and sixth grader Jasmine Ortwein-Risch.

The pronouncer for this year’s county spelling bee will be former Ledger publisher Tom Eggensperger, and judges will be Karen Dwyer, Joanne Burk and Sara Czerwinski of Thompson Falls. The bee begins at 1 p.m. in the courtroom on the top floor of the courthouse.