Michaela Sprague, eighth grade student from Jefferson Village School won the Lincoln County Spelling Bee with the word “extraordinary” at Great Salt Bay School on Thursday.
Twelve students from six area schools participated in eight rounds of competition followed by a second-place standoff that ran an additional seven rounds.
The unusually close contest caught observers up in the excitement, with bursts of applause as the words grew more and more difficult and were correctly spelled.
The students approached the microphone, each with their own style. Some stood with confidence and ease while others twirled their shirttails nervously.
Competing for Great Salt Bay School, eighth grader Liam Dworkin found his lucky Grateful Dead t-shirt unhelpful as he tripped on “axle” in the first round.
Most of the words on the Scripps spelling list are selected because they are homonyms, requiring that the student understand the definition, words that have the “i-e” exception, are out of common usage, or even antiquated. Nothing about the competition is easy.
The occasional ringing cell phone and commotion in the hallways interrupted the proceedings, but did not appear to disrupt the students or fluster them.
Two judges, Nancy Durgin (Medomak Middle School), and Anne Tibbetts (Great Salt Bay School) were responsible for upholding Scripps National Spelling Bee rules. The determination of correct spelling, pronunciation, and compliance fell to them.
The pronouncer, Elizabeth Norton (Great Salt Bay), also hosted the event. It was her task to say each word clearly, offer definitions and moderate the competition.
Representing their schools were Zachary Sorjanen and Cameron Crocker from Edgecomb Eddy School, Will Berry and Gwen Pasch from Boothbay Elementary School, Liam Dworkin and Christine Hilton from Great Salt Bay Community School, Christopher Pelletier and Jackson Vail from Medomak Middle School, Kevin Fitzpatrick and Kayla Dighton from Bristol Consolidated School, and Julia Fasano and Michaela Sprague from Jefferson Village School.
Students took turns trying to pluck a spoken word out of the air and make it tangible by selecting from the 26 alphabet letters and arranging them in a precise order.
They drew words in the air, ticked off letters on their fingers or closed their eyes and spelled aloud. One girl carefully wrote her word with her finger on her jeans to help her visualize it.
Three students remained by round eight.
This year’s Medomak Champion, Christopher Pelletier and his classmate Jackson Vail, 2011 Lincoln County Champion, squared off with Michaela Sprague from Jefferson Village School. Pelletier stumbled on “mezzanine,” followed by Vail with “extemporaneous.”
Sprague had to spell her word correctly, then a final word for the Lincoln County Championship. She breezed through them both: “cholera” and “extraordinarily” with a relaxed demeanor and unhesitating attack for the 2012 Lincoln County Championship.
The position of runner-up required a face-off between the two Medomak eighth graders tied for second. In their school competition, Vail and Pelletier went seven rounds together to determine the Middle School Champion.
They offered no less to the cheering spectators at Great Salt Bay. Ultimately, “timorously” caused Pelletier to stumble, leaving Vail to correctly spell “tableau” for the runner up position.
The second and third positions are important if Sprague should be unable to compete at the state level for any reason. Vail would step in to represent Lincoln County and Pelletier would be his second.
Sprague, Lincoln County Scripps Spelling Bee Champion for 2012 will now prepare for the Maine State Spelling Bee, at University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus on Sat., March 17.
Sprague with her confidence, ability and unwavering determination will offer the other Maine County Champions a formidable opponent and her supporters and friends hope to see her carrying home that Championship title.
The Maine winner will face off with spellers from across the nation in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in June.
