by Mary Rupert
Edwardsville Elementary student Riley Wilson won the Wyandotte County Spelling Bee today at Turner High School.
Riley was the clear winner as all of the other students in the fourth round of the bee misspelled their words.
Riley spelled cabana and then a final word, knavery, correctly to win the annual contest.
Just before her win, Riley was awaiting her turn from her chair in the second row, where she was swinging her legs that did not quite touch the floor. She made quick work of her two words, calmly spelling them correctly to win the championship.
According to her family, Riley practices spelling a lot. She is planning to go on to the Regional Sunflower Spelling Bee March 7 in Hays, Kan.
Leading up to the win, other students in the final round misspelled finale, begonia, dungaree, jackal and prosecute.
Paula Hough, the emcee of the event, told the audience it was the first time in memory that everyone but one student in the final round of the county spelling bee missed their word. The final round of students, minus the winner, was called back to the podium to determine second and third places in a spell-off.
A little conference was held with spelling bee officials including Hough, Susan Reitemeyer, pronouncer, Elly Morris, spelling bee coordinator, and the two judges, Sen. Pat Pettey and Lisa Terrell, to discuss the rules. Then the bee proceeded with the second- and third-place categories.
Turner Elementary’s David Spillman correctly spelled foretell to win second place, while Layla Golubski of Junction Elementary, who correctly spelled corpse, won third place.
Some students battled their stage fright and tried to keep their concentration during the event by spelling out words on their fingers. A few were tapping their toes, shuffling their feet, and holding onto their hands tightly. During a practice round, they became accustomed to the procedures.
The 20 students in the contest were good spellers, as only two missed words in the first round. All of the students were champion spellers from their schools.
Some of the words they missed included cummerbund, totem, hibachi, discipline, saxophone, mahi-mahi, periscope, admiral, manicure, fidelity, and homonym.
Participating in the spelling bee, besides the three winners, were these students who are champions at their schools: Zaynab Zlitni, Bonner Springs Elementary; Jazmin Romo, Delaware Ridge Elementary; Katie Hammons, Robert E. Clark Middle School; Olufemi Furnace, White Church Elementary; Savannah Williams, Central Middle School; Christina Melching, Rosedale Middle School; Barbara Graber, Northwest Magnet School; Madilyn Peters, Arrowhead Middle School; Mason Lofton, Piper East Elementary School; Haili Wisener, Piper Middle School; Andrew (Drew) Collins, Christ the King School; Brennan Schroeder, St. Patrick School; Molly Mahoney, Resurrection Catholic School; Jack Mikel, Sixth Grade Academy (Turner district); Miranda Agustin-Sanchez, Midland Trail Elementary; Mariam Khan, Oak Grove Elementary; and Jocelyn Santos, Turner Middle School.
