February 11, 2004

Letter-perfect

photo
Herald photo by Carol South
The Grand Traverse County Spelling Bee, held Monday evening at Traverse City Christian School, pitted 50 spellers in grades 5-8 in a tense showdown. The final seven spellers will compete in the Grand Traverse Regional Spelling Bee on March 21. Pictured, back row from left: Natalie Wright, Norris Elementary School, alternate; Erica Starr, Kingsley Middle School, 7th place; Adam Karpinski, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Middle School, 6th place; Matt Bouwense, Traverse City Christian, 4th place. Front row from left: Alex Lipp, Glenn Loomis, 5th place; Andrew McCartney, Central Grade School, 3rd place; Kevin Kane, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Middle School, 1st place; Alan Tilley, Traverse Bay Community School, 2nd place.

Kevin Kane claims Grand Traverse County Spelling Bee title

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

       It was an evening of bitten nails, held breaths and missing letters. Or sometimes a few extra letters.
      The annual Grand Traverse County Spelling Bee, held Monday evening at Traverse City Christian School, merged suspense with excellence and drama.
      In the end, after an 11-word duel between the two final spellers, Kevin Kane, a seventh grade student from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Middle School, won the event. He out spelled first runner up Alan Tilley, an eighth grade student from Traverse Bay Community School, who stumbled over doubloons. When Kane successfully spelled ligament and julienne (the surviving speller has to spell two words in a row win), the competition was over.
      "The definition told me that julienne was a food, so I was remembering some of the food words I studied," recalled Kane, adding that his favorite subject is math. "I studied but not too much, just enough to know the words I got."
      The seven winners will compete next in the Grand Traverse Regional Spelling Bee, scheduled for March 21 at the Dennos Museum. One winner from that event will attend the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC, in early June.
      The Grand Traverse County Spelling Bee featured fifth through eighth grade students from nine area schools: Kingsley Area Schools, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Middle School, Traverse Bay Christian School, Traverse Bay Community School, Traverse City Christian School, Traverse City Area Public Elementary Schools, East Junior High School, West Junior High School and Trinity Lutheran School.
      The Traverse City Record-Eagle and Pizza Hut sponsored the event. Maia Conway, marketing and Newspapers in Education manager for the Record-Eagle, said hosting a spelling bee is a tradition among newspapers.
      "Obviously as a newspaper, we support literacy and a spelling bee is a great way to get kids reading and introduce them to the English language and expand their vocabulary," Conway said. "It is also great because there are not many opportunities for kids to compete academically."
      Fifty students began round one and 40 of them successfully navigated their way through words such as jewel, adhesion, essence, controversy and humanely.
      Round one and first chair nerves got to Erik Krueger, a fifth grade student from Traverse Bay Christian School. Having drawn the number one seat in the bee during a random drawing beforehand, he was in the spotlight as he spelled the first word: schedule. And missed it.
      "He knew it, he just said it too fast," said his mother, Barb Krueger. "He was a nervous wreck as soon as he told me he was number one."
      Krueger took his mistake in stride and still considers spelling his favorite subject. After all, as a fifth grader there's still next year and the year after to try again.
      The second round of the bee knocked some more spellers but the third round was the telling one. Only nine of the 26 spellers who started the round survived, flubbing more difficult words such as aerosol, leniency, extemporaneous, cyanide and gossamer.
      Arielle Kanitz, a seventh grade student from Traverse City Christian School, was knocked out during round three. Competing in her first spelling bee, she was increasingly tense as her turn that round approached.
      "It was nerve-wracking," she acknowledged afterward. "I studied a little but I should have studied more, I just randomly went through the list and studied all the hard ones."
      The final five rounds featured the showdown between Kane and Tilley, who successfully spelled words such as exonerate, semipermeable, guillotine and panache.
      A confident competitor, Tilley admits to a little bit of luck in his second place finish.
      "I studied ten words beforehand and three of them were ones I got," he said.
      Stress levels varied among the parents in the audience. Heather Canale's son, Andrew McCartney, a sixth grade student in Central Grade School's TAG program, placed third in the event. She admits to being on edge throughout the bee.
      "I was biting my nails on his last word," she said. "One thing the kids always forget is to ask word origin, that can really help. Andrew seems to be good at puzzling out words and using the rules of spelling."