Hamlin is spelling champion at Springfield Elementary School

Isabella (Bella) Hamlin, seventh grade, is the 2026 spelling champion at Springfield Public School and part of the Scripps Spelling Bee competition. She also won Springfield’s 2025 Spelling Bee. 

Runner up and alternate is Ella Kottke, an eighth grade student. 

Twenty students, the top spellers in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades determined by an earlier spelling test, participated in the single elimination oral spelling bee in the school auditorium on Friday afternoon, Jan. 16. The students spelled on stage in front of their classmates, families and friends. With some student spellers out, several students served as alternate spellers during the competition.

See full story in this week's issue of the Springfield Advance-Press.