Word to the wise
Polson fifth-grader wins county spelling bee
Nicole Tavenner
Taleah Hernandez, spelling bee winner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Kylee Wells, St. Ignatius eighth grader, left, took second place and David Castillo, a Polson seventh grader, placed third.
Nicole Tavenner
Emcee Ken Avison keeps things light during the tension-filled event.
Nicole Tavenner
Brant Heiner winces as he struggles for a spelling.
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
The practice round featured words like mammalian, rejuvenate, dawdle and herculean.
Then the top fifth to eighth-grade spellers from Arlee, Charlo, Polson, Ronan and St. Ignatius began the 88th annual Lake County Spelling Bee — and the words really got difficult.
Spelling styles differed.
Michael Smith crossed his arms in front of him to spell; others widened their stance or stood with their feet together.
One speller wrote the word out in her palm with her finger, another used his pant leg as a chalkboard and his finger as chalk.
The words kept coming, and 17 spellers were eliminated in the first round.
Three competitors persevered: Kylee Wells, a St. Ignatius eighth grader; Taleah Hernandez, a Polson fifth grader; and David Castillo, a Polson seventh grader,
David tussled with “dilapidated” and went out in the fourth round, finishing third and leaving Taleah and Kylee to spell for the championship. Kylee tried hard on the word “Machiavellian” but lost out to Taleah, who correctly spelled vacuousness to win that round and then loquacious for the first place trophy.
Before they left the stage with their trophies, Lake County Superintendent of Schools Michelle Woods asked the top three finishers how much they studied before the spelling bee.
David said sheepishly owned up to the fact he “studied 30 minutes at the most.”
Kylee said she studied maybe two hours.
“My dad and my brother helped me study,” Taleah said. She spent three to five days studying.
Rosemary Hickey, Taleah’s mom, said the family listens to National Public Radio, where Taleah hears foreign words and pronunciation. Also she comes from a family of good spellers.
Long before the bee began, the atmosphere in the Ronan Events Center was buzzing with excitement and nervousness as contestants waited with parents, grandparents and friends. Before them was the stage with its bright spotlights, neat rows of chairs, microphone and a podium where the list of words waited.
Braunson Henriksen, a fifth-grader from Polson, had some experience at his middle school spelling bee, but “the only thing I remember is vehicular. I got that wrong,” Braunson said.
He and the other Polson spellers met with English teacher Mr. DiGiallonardo and practiced how to stall, how to ask for the country of origin of a word, and how to politely ask officials to use the word in a sentence.
Madeline McCrea and Kiana King, both Ronan sixth graders, sat together doing some last minute studying.
“I’m nervous about getting a word wrong,” Madeline said.
Both girls used the practice sheets of words. The German words were hardest for Kiana, while Madeline said the toughest for her were Greek and Roman words.
Sixth grade St. Ignatius student Jace Matt was a little nervous about the crowd, but said “I don’t think they bite.”
His grandmother Penny Kipp laughed and said, “Or boo.”
His mother had also participated when she was in sixth grade.
Bruin Largent, a Ronan sixth grader, sat quietly with his family. He said Ronan Middle School took the top 11 spellers in the school.
He practiced a little bit, he said, adding that he has to work at spelling.
The Cordier family — Sally and Rick and son Devon — were one of many families there to support a student. Their speller was Dustin Cordier, a seventh-grader.
Rick said they help Dustin study.
“He’s always nervous spelling in front of a bunch of people,” Rick said.
Driving to the spelling bee, Rick said Dustin told his family he couldn’t wait until the event was over.
But when the last word was pronounced, spellers already were planning to study hard so they could take the first place trophy home next year.
