“Forsooth” won Elijah Clobes the middle school spelling bee after 11 rounds Friday afternoon.
It was a comeback for the eighth grader who finished second last year and first in sixth grade. After his latest win, he will get the chance to compete at the Douglas County Spelling Bee.
“I’m a little nervous for the next one, but I think I worked hard and I practiced with my mom a lot,” he said.
Clobes went word-for-word with classmate Oscar Olivera, leaving them the last two standing.
Olivera said it was his first time placing and his winging-it strategy took him there.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said of his second-place finish. “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be.”
In total, 15 students competed. The spelling bee started with words in round one like “heavy,” “landline” and “lousy.” By round 10, the middle schoolers were having to spell “deign,” “lurid” and “canid.”
The final round had Clobes spelling “fumatorium” and Olivera spelling “masa.” Clobes then correctly spelled “starboard” and had to have one more successful spell before taking the win, which he did with “forsooth.”
Angie Kennedy, one of the coordinators, said spelling bees offer a unique opportunity for students.
“I think it’s something for those students that are more academically-minded to have something to compete in and show off their skills in a special area that they don’t get to otherwise,” she said.
In order to prepare, the students mainly must study by themselves.
“We do a class spelling bee in all three grade levels and then they get a nice list to study and they’re on their own,” Kennedy said.
The Douglas County Spelling Bee will be at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 11 at Billy Mills Middle School in Lawrence.
Would you have been able to compete against them and spell these words?
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Seminary– Batten – Retribution– Poppet
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Conifers– Sifting– Provocation– Crevices
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Deducts– Geopolitics– Bovines– Exhilaration
Reach reporter Katie Hanney at [email protected].
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