BISMARCK — Nearly 100 students are preparing to face off in the 2026 North Dakota State Spelling Bee.

The competition takes place Monday, March 23, at the Bismarck Event Center.

The event is hosted by the North Dakota Association of County Superintendents (NDACS), official regional partner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee and is sponsored primarily by the North Dakota Newspaper Association Education Foundation, an NDACS news release said.

Two students will represent Cass County in the state contest: Chaitanya Gopi, a sixth grader at Dakota Montessori School in Fargo, and Sunny Zhang, a seventh grader at Ben Franklin Middle School in Fargo.

Students representing 51 of the state’s 53 counties will compete in the one-day event.

Competition begins with a written test of 50 spelling words and 20 vocabulary questions.

The top 25 spellers from that round, along with any additional students tied for 25th place, advance to the afternoon’s oral spelldown. The oral competition will continue until a state champion is crowned.

The state champion will receive an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in “Bee Week” and compete in the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee from May 26-28.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

Ronald Dean Soderquist, Sr. was born in Galesburg, Illinois on November 27, 1943. He passed away peacefully at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, ND on March 13, 2026, at the age of 82.

He graduated from High School in Galesburg, Illinois in 1961 and joined the Air Force a year later. He completed his contract with the Air Force with an honorable discharge in Grand Forks, ND in 1966. This is where he met and married his wife Cyndie

He joined the Grand Forks Police Department in 1970, and retired January 1999 as a Lieutenant. While he was a police officer, he did everything from street patrol, to bomb tech, to investigations and SWAT.

Not too long after he joined Grand Forks PD, he enlisted in the Army National Guard as an Engineer and retired as a First Sergeant in November 2003.

After his retirements, he worked a variety of security and transportation jobs for the University of North Dakota, the city of Grand Forks and Altru Health.

During his long life in Grand Forks, he had a love for tinkering with cars and boats in his garage, days out on the lake fishing, and spending time with his grandchildren. He was a voracious reader and an avid storyteller, and loved music and movies. He was a man with a strong sense of duty and work ethic, and he was always willing to offer up creative nuggets of wisdom.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Everett Soderquist and Helen Soderquist (Huddleson), as well as his daughter Diana Carlson (Soderquist.)

He is survived by his wife Cyndie Lee Soderquist (Trimborn), whom he married November 5th, 1966, his brother Russell, his sons Ronald, Jr., Zackary, and daughter Sally, his grandchildren Amanda, Michelle, Tyler, Bryan, Micheal, Kaitlyn, Molly, and Andrew, and his great grandchildren: Odin, Maddie, Daylen, River, and Ryder.

His memorial service will be held at Norman Funeral Home in Grand Forks on Saturday March 21st, 2026, at 2 pm.

He was loved dearly by those he has departed from and is loved by those he now joins. He is dearly missed and will be for as long as he is remembered.

We love you, Dad.