A quick update for those of you interested (even mildly) in the State Spelling Bee: it was won by a kid from Craftsbury named Mael Le Scouezec, and it was a triumph of persistence. Mael won third place two years ago, and second place last year. An amazing kid, but then, weren’t they all? Winning word: ornithoscopy. From the Greek, they tell me.

Photos by Ryan Mercer, Free Press.