Letters were flying like darts at the Regional Spelling Bee held on March 8, 2011. Fifteen students attended from San Juan, Grand, Emery, and Carbon counties, but there could be only one winner.

After an hour of intense competition, Jared Ward emerged as the champion of words. The sixth grade student trumped the rest by correctly spelling the following words: jovial, curriculum, ductile, albatross, isobar, linden, gondola, roughhewn, hydrology, herbivore, and parfait.

Jared, the son of Wendy and Richard Ward, now moves on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. this summer.

This marks the third year in a row that a student from Albert R. Lyman Middle School has won the regional competition and will attend the national competition.