Tim Hinrichsen-Johns, an eighth grade student at Johnson County Central Schools, won the championship title of the 2026 Johnson County Spelling Contest on Saturday, February 7 as he spelled the word p-r-o-g-n-o-s-t-i-c-a-t-e. Second place was awarded to Jay Chaudhari and the third place winner was Taytem Simon, all from Johnson County Central Schools. Overall there were 10 contestants and 12 rounds of spelling.
The Top Three winners in the individual grades from Sterling and Johnson County Central Schools were as follows:
Fourth Grade: Calum Dickson, JCC; Jazmin Garcia, JCC; and Grayson Schumm, Sterling.
Fifth Grade: Nenne Ofoegbu, JCC; Beau Winslow, JCC; Isaac Bolen, Sterling.
Sixth Grade: Selena Cabrales, JCC; Melody Dill, Sterling; Nathaly Hurtado-Arellano, JCC.
Seventh Grade: Ada Goodrich, Taytem Simon, Slayden Newman, all from JCC.
Eighth Grade: Jay Chaudhari, Tim Hinrichsen-Johns, Edith Blomsted, all from JCC.
