Montana City School sixth-grader Liam Fox outlasted 25 other spellers to win the 2026 Jefferson County Spelling Bee on Feb. 11 at Clancy Elementary.
Fox will represent Jefferson County at the Treasure State Spelling Bee on March 21 at Montana State University in Bozeman.
The victory was sweet for Fox, who had been chasing this win since fourth grade. “I’m very glad that I actually got to be here,” Fox said after the competition.
Fox first competed at the county level in fourth grade, making it to the second or third round before being eliminated. Last year, he served as an alternate but didn’t get to compete. This year, he was ready.
In the weeks leading up to the bee, Fox’s mother quizzed him extensively on spelling words. His teacher at Montana City School, Ashton McLaughlin, also helped prepare him for the competition.
County Superintendent of Schools Sarah Eyer, in her fifth year coordinating the bee, welcomed spectators to the Clancy School gym at 6 p.m. before introducing the three judges.
The panel included Jodi Smiley, Boulder’s library director, Sarah Layng, Jefferson High School’s athletic director, and Cody Richardson, a Jefferson High School alumnus who now works as a grizzly bear and wolf specialist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Tona Iwen from Clancy School served as statistician, tracking eliminations throughout the competition. Jennifer Milton, also from Clancy School, served as the pronouncer.
Milton selected the bee words from secret lists provided annually by Scripps, the national spelling bee sponsor, and walked the 26 competitors through a practice round before launching into the competition.
The first round proved unpredictable, with words like “yiddish,” “ramshackle,” “dexterity” and “prestigious” eliminating 14 students. Among them was Boulder Elementary’s Kalea DiRe, who stumbled on “et cetera.” The eighth grader had won her school’s spelling bee five consecutive years and finished third at county last year.
The second round brought more challenging vocabulary with “bayonet,” “squalor,” and “ostracism,” cutting the field to 12 spellers. By the third round, words like “auxiliary,” “concierge,” and “paparazzi” left just six competitors standing.
The words became less challenging as the field narrowed. By the sixth round, only two spellers remained: Fox and Taylor Myrstol, a fifth grader from Cardwell School. What followed was a head-to-head battle through multiple rounds, with the competitors trading correctly spelled words like “packet” and “cheddar,” then “simmer” and “policy,” then “cabbage” and “mince.”
The battle finally ended when Myrstol misspelled “escapade.” Fox then correctly spelled “airborne,” setting up the championship word.
Milton announced the final word: “portrait.”
Fox didn’t hesitate. “Portrait. P-o-r-t-r-a-i-t. Portrait.”
All three judges raised their green paddles, and applause erupted in the gymnasium.
“It feels amazing,” Fox said moments after his victory, already thinking ahead to the state competition.
The county has produced strong spellers in recent years. In 2023, Clancy student Natalie Russ won the state bee and went on to represent Montana at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
“It’s the small schools. I love small schools,” Eyer said. “I think kids from these smaller schools have the opportunity to succeed.”
“Spelling bees are where preparation meets luck,” she added.
Fox’s father, Conor Fox, watched the competition nervously. “I was very stressed out,” he said afterward. “I don’t think I could have spelled half those words. I’m pretty impressed with everybody.”
When asked about his preparation plans for the state bee, Liam grinned: “Probably spell a lot of words.”
As the Fox family left the gym that evening, Liam made one request. “Can we go to Big Dipper?” he asked, referring to the Helena ice cream shop. His family agreed, and the county’s newest spelling champion headed off to celebrate his hard-earned victory.
