County's top spellers ready for bee at Great Mills HS

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

All of the in-school bees are done. Now it's time to spell for the big prize.

Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders representing 12 public and private schools from all over St. Mary's will compete today, Wednesday, March 3, beginning at 7 p.m. in the 32nd annual St. Mary's County Spelling Bee at Great Mills High School.

The event is sponsored by The Enterprise, Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, the College of Southern Maryland and Chaney Enterprises.

Hosting the spelling bee for a seventh year will be Liz Cooper, supervisor of instruction for reading for the St. Mary's County public schools. The pronouncer will be Cathy Allen of the St. Mary's County Board of Education.

Spellers who may compete Wednesday at Great Mills High, as listed by their schools, include:

Chesapeake Public Charter School — Mary Jane Hyatt, Caleb Thompson and alternate Kyle Songy

Esperanza Middle School — Kelly Southam, Kade Randall, Jared Franz and alternate Evan Brennan

Father Andrew White School — Alanna Daley, Madeline Mattingly, Carolina Heisler and alternate Kiran Kaur

The King's Christian Academy — Michaela Smith, Timothy Green, Jacqueline Vuckmer and alternate Nathan Lindgren

Leonard Hall Junior Naval Academy — Jack Murphy, Shannon Smith and alternate Colin Reitz

Leonardtown Middle School — Bryon Bishop, Thea Williams, Samay Shah and alternate Rachael Rolfe

Little Flower School — Kelsey Madrigal, Alexandra Ye, Chris Marszalek and alternate Kasey McGilloway

Margaret Brent Middle School — Shane Smith, Patrick Capps, Rachel Villa and alternate Kelsey Walter

Mother Catherine Spalding School — Samantha Richards, Blake Buckler, Ashlee Windsor and alternate Kristen Phetteplace

Spring Ridge Middle School — Jacob Dodges, Sarah Carty, Molly McGowan and alternate Anna Thomas

St. John's School — Chris Limjuco, LeAnne Hudson and Jeff Henkel

St. Michael's School — Luke Jarboe, Sammi Turner, Emily Dunn and alternate Brittany Bain

The county's champion speller will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., from June 2 to 4. The final rounds will be shown live on ABC — WJLA Channel 7 in Washington and WMAR Channel 2 in Baltimore.

The St. Mary's champion will also receive Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary and its Addenda Section, along with the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award — a $100 U.S. Savings Bond.

Also, the local champion will receive a one-year subscription to Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online.

Second prize will be Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, along with an Amazon.com gift certificate and a one-year subscription to Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online.

Third prize will be an Amazon.com gift certificate and a one-year subscription to Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online.

Spelling bee champs and winning words

2009 Jackie Smedley, St. John's macrame

2008 Michael Dugan, St. John's triumvirate

2007 Amanda Shoemaker, Leonardtown hierarchy

2006 Shane Mulligan, Leonard Hall polenta

2005 Ike Elele, Leonardtown glycerol

2004 Kevin Bowes, Leonardtown sepia

2003 Daniel Avery, home-schooled student kinesiology

2002 Kristina Runde, Margaret Brent incarceration

2001 Erin Taylor, Little Flower forfeit

2000 Alyssa Keating, Margaret Brent caribou

1999 Julian Spiegler, Margaret Brent cicada

1998 Jennifer McFann, Esperanza spectacles

1997 Joseph Willett, Leonardtown tensible

1996 Chetan Patil, Margaret Brent intrepid

1995 Melanie Lake, Spring Ridge marimba

1994 Tamara Moore, Little Flower potentiality

1993 Seema Patil, Margaret Brent aeronautics