BRUNSWICK — A eighth grade student from Washington County returned for a second crack at the Maine State Spelling Bee Saturday and booked a ticket to the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. He’s also headed somewhere else special — his school’s spring dance.

“It feels really awesome, especially since I made the biggest bet on winning,” winner Tristan Singh said following the bee. “There’s a spring dance coming up at my school next week, and I said I would only (go) if I won.”

Singh, a student at Rose M. Gaffney Elementary School in Machias, beat out 13 other spellers from all over the state at Bowdoin College and took the final prize with the word “stratosphere.” Each student had won bees at the school and county level to win a spot at the state competition.

The bee, which was presented by the Maine Trust for Local News, went on for 18 rounds. It came down to Singh and the student representing Androscoggin County, Turner Elementary School sixth grader Grace Morris.

Spectators were biting their nails as Morris and Singh went back and forth spelling words for six rounds.

At round 14, Singh misspelled “cognizant,” giving Morris the chance to win. Then, Morris misspelled “millennial” — sending the final two into more rounds until a misspelling of “philosophize” ultimately took Morris out of contention.

The heated competition was all in good fun as spellers high-fived each other on stage and celebrated each others’ wins.

“We ended up chatting a lot, (and) cheering each other on,” said sixth grader Harmony Hoyt, the speller from Aroostook County.

And families in the audience were waiting with congratulatory hugs no matter their students’ place in the standings.

“(We’re) so proud of him. He’s worked really hard; he’s done a lot of hours of studying,” said Elizabeth Singh, Tristan’s mom.

Three members of a spelling bee family and the president of Thomas College made up the judging team for the state bee. For each word, students could ask the judges for its definition, origin, part of speech and to use it in a sentence.

Lily Jordan, of San Francisco, returned to her home state to judge this year’s bee after winning it twice as a middle schooler. Her dad, Glenn Jordan, a retired Press Herald sports writer, and her mom, Nancy Jordan, the lead content developer at National Geographic Learning, were also at the judges’ table. Meanwhile, their dog, Webster — like the dictionary — took a nap under the table.

“It almost feels like being a kid again, and feeling the nervousness of the moment, but it’s a lot of fun,” Lily Jordan said.

Jeannine Uzzi, the president of Thomas College, served as the word pronouncer Saturday, a role she’s been coming back to for more than 15 years.

“It’s a great way to reinforce academics in the state,” Uzzi said.

A bee afficionado, Singh plans on competing in the Maine State Civics Bee at Colby College in June — that is, after he appears at the nation’s largest spelling competition.

Anna Nasset is an international speaker, trainer and author of the memoir “Now I Speak,” specializing in stalking awareness, victim rights and trauma-informed practices. Sheriff Troy Morton serves as the sheriff of Penobscot County, Maine and as the president of the Maine Sheriffs’ Association.

In the quiet moments of a survivor’s life, the most dangerous thing isn’t always a person; it’s the unknown.

For more than a decade, one of us (Anna) has lived with the reality of a serial stalker. After years of torment, this stalker was finally sentenced to 10 years in prison — one of the longest stalking sentences in U.S. history. But for a survivor, a sentence is not the end of the story. The “job” of being a victim never ends. It simply shifts into a state of constant vigilance.

For survivors across the country, safety planning depends on a simple, life-saving tool: VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday). This automated platform provides real-time alerts when an offender’s custody status changes. It is the difference between a survivor being able to sleep at night or living in a state of “psychological warfare,” wondering if the person who harmed them has been released, transferred or bailed out.

Currently, Maine is the only state in the nation that does not provide victims with this essential tool. We are the national outlier, and it is a distinction that puts Maine lives at risk.

Protecting victims is a critical responsibility within the criminal justice system. Law enforcement professionals work to provide safety, resources and advocacy for those affected by crime, while also ensuring victims are empowered and kept informed throughout the process.

 Maine’s criminal statutes already require victim notifications for certain crimes, and that process would remain unchanged. However, it can be significantly strengthened through electronic victim notification systems, which allow victims, family members, witnesses and others affected by criminal activity to receive alerts when an individual is released from custody.

 Maine has already taken an important step forward with a pilot program operating in the Aroostook, Penobscot, Somerset and Two Bridges Regional jails. In just these four facilities, more than 8,500 notifications have been issued, and nearly 6,500 individuals have registered to receive alerts. Those users include not only victims of domestic violence, but also witnesses, family members and concerned community members who rely on the system to stay informed.

 Information is power. Yet in Maine, that power remains fragmented. Whether someone receives a critical alert should not depend on which county line a jail sits behind. Expanding electronic victim notification statewide would help ensure consistent, timely information for those who need it most.

Investing in automated victim notification is a no-brainer. This is a critical, common-sense investment that will move our state from last in the nation to a leader in victim services. The VINE system is designed to supplement, not replace, our existing statutory obligations. It offers a confidential layer of protection, available 24/7, without requiring overstretched jail staff to perform extra data entry. VINE simply and effectively connects existing records to the people who need that information most.

Maine prides itself on community and compassion. It is common sense to provide victims with the tools they need to stay safe. It is an essential responsibility of our criminal justice system to ensure that survivors are not the last to know when their offender is back on the street.

Let’s stop asking why Maine is the last in the nation and start showing the rest of the country how we put victims first by funding a statewide automated victim notification system now.