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Saturday, March 11, 2006
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Spelling bee proves to be a honey of a contest
By JENNIFER STOCKINGER Staff Writer The top two spellers at The Lakes Bee Friday went back and fourth in three rounds before Stetson McAdams, an eighth-grader in the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle School District, claimed the championship of the regional spelling bee.
With this win, McAdams, the son of Brady and Terry McAdams, won a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the national competition May 28 to June 3.
There were 34 students in third-through-eighth-grade - from Crow Wing, Morrison, Wadena, Todd and Cass counties - who competed in the regional bee, sponsored by The Brainerd Dispatch and the National Joint Powers Alliance.
It took 13 rounds before McAdams won the bee. In Round 10, and about two hours into the regional bee, there were three students left - McAdams; Jillian Anderson, a seventh-grader at Forestview Middle School in Baxter; and Kristy Shaw, an eighth-grader at Bertha-Hewitt High School.
Shaw misspelled "oratorio" and was eliminated. Shaw, 13, the daughter of Cindy and Daniel Shaw of Parkers Prairie, said this was her toughest word. She spelled the word as "orotorio."
McAdams and Anderson both spelled their words correctly and advanced to Round 11. Both students spelled their words incorrectly in the 11th round and they each spelled their words correctly in the 12th round.
In Round 13, Anderson misspelled "floreted" and gave McAdams the advantage. McAdams spelled "cornucopia" correctly and he had to spell one more word correctly to become the champion. The rules for The Lakes Bee specify the student has to spell two words correctly in a row to win. McAdams quickly spelled "Mediterranean" and won.
McAdams took third place in the regional spelling bee last year. McAdams' father would not allow his son to comment for this story.
Anderson, 13, the daughter of Julie and Brian Anderson of Baxter, came into the spelling bee as the underdog. In the Brainerd School District spelling bee, she just missed the cut to qualify for the regional bee. Fortunately for her, Forestview sixth-grader Nick Greatens decided not to compete in the bee and this opened up the spot for Anderson.
"I came into the bee coming from behind as the underdog," said Anderson, who said this made second place even more sweet.
Anderson said she was not nervous since she has competed in the regional bee before. Anderson said the words this year were a lot easier than last year's spelling bee words.
She said her toughest word was the one she misspelled, "floreted." Her easiest word was "clavicle" because she recently had the word in her health class.
Anderson, who said she is a straight A student, said she practically read through almost every page of her spelling booklet to prepare for the bee.
Shaw said she was glad to have taken third place in the bee and to have won a trophy. She said the competition wasn't too nerve-wracking since this was her third time competing in the regional bee. For the past three years she won her district bee in Bertha-Hewitt.
Shaw said her easiest word was "gladiator."
JENNIFER STOCKINGER can be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.
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