Worlanyo Gato, a 14-year-old eighth-grader at Southeast Bulloch Middle School, won the 2018 Bulloch County Spelling Bee held Monday evening at Statesboro High School. Gato grabbed the title after 10 rounds by correctly spelling the words "loam" and "newton" after his remaining challenger, Brianna Davis of Mattie Lively Elementary School, incorrectly spelled "haversack." Gato is the son of Worlanyo Eric and Vivian Gato of Statesboro. Davis is the 11-year-old daughter of Vanity and Bryan Hendrix of Statesboro. This is the second championship for Gato, who first won the local title at age 10, in 2015, when he was in fifth grade at MLES. His win Monday also made SEBMS home to the bee champion for the second year in a row. Worlanyo's brother Elkem of Brooklet Elementary School was runner-up to the 2017 champion, Eric Lim of SEBMS.
'Loam,' 'newton' earn SEBMS eighth-grader spelling bee title
Worlanyo Gato, 14, headed to district bee