Yuma County School Superintendent

Congratulations 👏🏽

The results are in from the 2026 Arizona State Spelling Bee!

Smriti Parajuli, an 8th grader from Centennial Middle School in the Crane Elementary School District, earned an impressive second-place finish at the statewide competition.

A huge congratulations also goes to Esha Marupudi from BASIS Chandler, who captured this year’s state championship title.

Both students will now represent Arizona this May in Washington, D.C. at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The competition featured top students from across the state, showcasing academic excellence at every level.

photo: Arizona Educational Foundation

Persistence pays off for Centennial student in Yuma County Spelling Bee Editor’s note: This article is being offered in partnership with KAWC and can also be read or heard on KAWC.org and 88.9 FM.

Local student wins 80th Annual Yuma County Spelling Bee YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - A local student won a spelling bee. Centennial Middle School student Smriti earned first place, with Kamilah as runner up Yuma County Schools Superintendent Tom Hurt joined in congratulating Smriti as the winner of the 80th annual county spelling bee. The winning word was concor...

𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥
District One will be conducting a Reunification Drill today from 10:30am - 2:00pm on the Woodard Jr. High School campus. During this important training exercise, there will be an increased presence in traffic, individuals, and first responders around the Woodard Jr. High School campus. Please don’t be alarmed, as these are all participants in the Reunification Drill.

If possible, we ask that parents do not plan on visiting Woodard during this time, as there will be increased traffic and limited parking in the area.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥?
During a Reunification Drill, students from one school campus are evacuated and transported by school bus to a different “host” school, where they will be reunified with their parent/guardian through a secure process. By practicing this process, we can ensure staff are trained to safely and securely transport a large body of students to a safe, alternate location, and reunify each student with an authorized adult.

District One is continually working to provide a safe and secure environment for students and staff. Each campus has an Emergency Operations Plan that is activated during a true emergency. Our goal is to ensure our emergency plans work, providing our students and staff with the most secure educational and working environment possible.

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Yuma County Superintendent’s Office & Education Service Agency oversees the educational needs of students in Yuma Arizona

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District One proudly welcomes Lisa Anderson as the newest member of our Governing Board! Mrs. Anderson brings over 30 years of experience in education, including teaching and school and district-level administration. She joins President Keith Ware and members David Ibarra, Cori Rico, and Jeff Stoner to serve the students, families, and staff of District One.

☀️ Yuma County School Superintendent