Can you spell D-R-A-W?

Can you spell D-R-A-W?
Posted on 02/01/2017
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By Deb Hurley Brobst, Staff Writer for Canyon Courier
Pair in a dead heat at area spelling bee

A satisfying cadence infuses the words spelled aloud at a bee — staccato, enunciated, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. 

The 80-minute Mountain Area Spelling Bee on Jan. 25 at Wilmot Elementary saw 21 third- through seventh-graders using their spelling-bee cadences as they went through round after round.

This year’s contest had its dramatic moments, and after the final two contestants went 10 rounds spelling difficult words correctly, bee officials declared it a draw, and those two students will be sent to the state bee.

Mr. Cormier reacts to spelling bee

The winners are Evergreen Middle School seventh-grader Stephen Cindrich, who won the competition last year, and Wilmot Elementary School third-grader Daniel Buddin.

“We have no more difficult words,” Wilmot digital teacherlibrarian Susan Jeffres told the audience of parents, sibling and teachers. “We will just send both of them to the state bee.”

Stephen correctly spelled such words as castellated, rheumatic, netsuke and chevalier; Daniel spelled prestidigitation, pugnacious, moiety and outré.

The audience — and even the judges — expressed their appreciation by smiling and applauding as the two contestants spelled the difficult words. Some shook their heads that students so young could spell words so difficult.

Retired Wilmot teacher Tammy Stortz, the bee’s word pronouncer, quipped that the judges were running out of words she could pronounce.

Stephen and Daniel will take a written test, and if they pass, they will move on to the Colorado bee on March 11 at the University of Denver.

The Mountain Area Spelling Bee includes students from Wilmot, Bergen Valley and Parmalee elementary schools and Evergreen Middle School. The Conifer bee will be Feb. 6.

Stephen said he didn’t do well on last year’s written test as a precursor to the state competition, but with knowledge of what the test is like, he has a better plan on how to prepare.

Daniel’s dad, Tim Buddin, said his son has an affinity for words, and that once Daniel sees a word, he remembers it.

“He has a marvelous brain,” Tim said. “He absorbs everything.”

Daniel’s mom, Shelagh Baines, added that Daniel likes writing, and he sees patterns in everything, which can help with spelling.

In addition to Daniel and Stephen, other participants included: Brett Klenken, Calvin Fuller-Keany, Riley Stormont and Asher McWilliams from EMS; Riley Sullivan, Caitlin Ast, Logan Killough, Maddie Krause and Violet Collins from Parmalee; Jack Griffiths, Nico Lalouette, Grace Johnson, Chloe Dadian and Chase Groom from Bergen Valley; and Ben Reid, Brendan Phoebe, Alec Thomson, Johnny White and Steven Zoeller from Wilmot.

Daniel waits his turn to spell

 

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