Spell It, Cody!
Ocracoke School held its annual Spelling Bee today, organized by middle school language arts teacher Shea Youell. Thirty students in 4th – 8th grade volunteered to stand up at a microphone and attempt to spell unfamiliar words in front of the entire student body, teachers, some parents, and sundry spelling bee groupies.
Spelling bee words get progressively more difficult, weeding out more and more spellers in each round. Charles Temple pronounced the words for the spellers, and gave more information if the students to ask for word definitions, languages or origin, or a sample sentence.
In round 4, only eight students were left. Waylon Underwood came very close to taking the title when he was the only one to spell his word ("reactionary") correctly. But in order to win the whole Bee, the round winner has to spell one more word for the championship. Waylon's championship word was "elaborative" – and he missed it. On to round 5 for all eight spellers.
By round 6, only three spellers were left: Cody Pinter, Ingrid Contreras, and Dylan Sutton. In a competition that lasted 17 rounds (a record at Ocracoke School), Cody Pinter and Dylan Sutton hung in there, sparring back and forth for the last nine rounds. Dylan was also runner-up last year.
Cody won the round with "poultry" and then spelled "medicate" for the championship. Dylan misspelled "language" by mishearing the word and spelling "languish," offering an object lesson in the benefit of asking for a definition or to hear the word used in a sentence.
Accepting congratulations after his big win, Cody said, with not a little bit of surprise in his voice, "I beat all the middle schoolers!"
He will represent Ocracoke School at the Downeast Regional Spelling Bee, sponsored by the Washington Daily News in "little" Washington, NC. If for some reason Cody can't attend the next level of competition, runner-up Dylan Sutton will be eligible to go in his place. The winner of the Downeast Regional Spelling Bee goes on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in "big" Washington, DC.
