Middle school spelling bee crowns first C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N in three years

With energy usually reserved for sports competitions, middle school students cheered and clapped for their classmates embroiled in a battle of words.

That is, how to spell them correctly.

Stikine Middle School held its first spelling bee in three years on April 12 in the high school gym. At stake were bragging rights and a $50 gift certificate for J&W's Fast Food. All that stood between students and glory were words like fiesta, shingles, normality and battlement.

The rules were simple. Students were not eliminated unless they misspelled two words. To win the bee, a student would have to spell two words correctly in a row.

During the first round, sixth grader Gavin Hunt was the only one to incorrectly spell a word, which was fiesta, but he held on until round three when he misspelled energetic. Other classmates stumbled on words like preserve, vanilla and reevaluate.

Some students sped through words with ease, some took their time, thinking each word through before speaking. The competition continued for 30 minutes, with the audience rapt on each contestant's turn.

"Wait. Are these getting harder," asked sixth grader Silje Morse.

In the end, it came down to seventh grader Andrei Siekawitch and eighth grader Clara Edens. Andrei spelled suffrage correctly. Clara was given roulette, which she spelled with one T. Andrei was given precipice, spelling it correctly and winning the bee.

The nine contestants had to earn their way into the bee.

"We had three weeks of practice, twice a week, and they had to show up for 30-minute practice," said Jim Brooks, the teacher who ran the spelling bee. "The practices were basically little competitions, so they could get used to the format. If they made three out of six, they were eligible for the competition."

Brooks said the middle school has held the bee since 1998 except for the past three years. High school junior Paige Baggen was the last person to win the bee before the hiatus.