Another McHenry County student will be competing on the national spelling bee stage after taking home the top spot in the regional tournament last month.
Eighth grader Vincent Brendel, from St. Mary Catholic School in Woodstock, won the 2026 McHenry County Regional Spelling Bee with the word “lorikeet,” a type of parrot found in Australia.
Brendel is no stranger to the regional contest, with this one being his fourth after qualifying for the past three years.
This year’s competition, hosted by the McHenry County Regional Office of Education, was held March 18 at Crystal Lake School District 47’s Bernotas Middle School. Daniel Edens from St. John Baptist School in Johnsburg was the first runnerup, followed by Jonathan Kinkade from Hannah Beardsley Middle School in Crystal Lake.
Coming off the big win, Brendel will be heading to the Scripps National Spelling Bee, to be held May 26 to 28 in Washington, D.C., to face off against the best spellers in the country. The broadcast schedule will be available May 1 on the Scripp’s website, spellingbee.com.
“The McHenry County Regional Spelling Bee is so much more than a competition – participants take away an invaluable experience that instills confidence, the ability to perform under pressure, public speaking skills and so much more,” Regional Superintendent of Education Diana Hartmann said in a news release. Her office hosts the regional bee.
Any student from kindergarten through eighth grade who goes to a public or private school or is homeschooled in McHenry County can participate in the regional spelling bee. The maximum age to participate is 15.
Last year’s winner was eighth grader Tyler Kochanski of Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic School in Cary. He is now a student at Cary-Grove High School.
After celebrating students during the spelling bee, the McHenry County Regional Office of Education now turns to celebrating teachers during the upcoming Educator of the Year event.
The award ceremony, hosted by the education office and The Community Foundation of McHenry County, will be held May 9 at Boulder Ridge Country Club in Lake in the Hills.
The awards recognize “passion, dedication and excellence in teaching” in educators from any school in the county, pre-kindergarten through grade 12, according to the event website.
Last year, a record-breaking 92 people were nominated from all sectors of the school community. Awards were given out in categories from administrators to early-career teachers. The overall Educator of the Year went to orchestra teacher Lyndra Bastian of Woodstock School District 200.
Find more information on the 2026 Educator of the Year event and purchase tickets here: bit.ly/2026EducatorOfTheYear.