La Crosse’s Nathan Jarrett, celebrity speller

Eighth-grader is first in district
to compete in national spelling bee

For the first time ever, the La Crosse School District has a contestant competing in the National Spelling Bee.

Lincoln Middle School eighth-grader Nathan Jarrett finished in the Top 3 at the Wisconsin state bee in March.

Those three will try for the national title, beginning Tuesday in Maryland.

If Jarrett makes it to the second day, he’ll be on ESPN3 at 7 a.m. Wednesday morning.

After finishing second in the state finals back in March, Jarrett’s become a spelling celebrity at school.

“I always get talked to at school like, ‘Hey, how do you spell this word?'” Jarrett joked.

He then went on to give examples of words even Google couldn’t decipher when trying to spell them for this article.

Jarrett is the first contestant from the area to attend the national bee since Onalaska’s Duncan Lloyd did so in 1956.

Jarrett has been competing in spelling bees locally for five years.

“It’s helped me a lot in school when writing essays,” he said. “I don’t have to use spellchecks and stuff like that.”

Jarrett flew to the bee this weekend with his mother Emily and his sister Lauren, who also finished high at the state bee.  

Mom and sis have pretty easy jobs.

“Nathan has been studying pretty much on his own since the state spelling bee,” mom said. “My job is just to get him there and be supportive.”

Nearly 300 young people will compete in the opening rounds. First, there will be a written test, followed by two rounds on stage, before the field is cut.