Pam Poteh of Malcom Bridge Middle School was declared the champion of Monday's Oconee County Schools system spelling bee.

Superintendent John Jackson called out words and Board members acted as judges during the competition to determine the school system's first-place finisher.

Pam and Louise Zhuang of Oconee County Middle, the top spellers from each of their respective schools, both competed admirably in the Board's meeting room, accurately spelling "rhombus," "speculate," "tangential," "misinterpret" and other words.

Pam won the bee about 20 minutes into it with "despicable" after also correctly spelling "adorned."

The 7th grader advances to the District Spelling Bee, which will be held in Putnam County on Feb. 25. Pam said she is excited and plans to prepare using the book "_How to Spell Like a Champ_." 

Good luck!