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Franz ‘sees' his way to win bee
Esperanza student visualizes spelling
Friday, March 5, 2010
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by REID SILVERMAN
Jared Franz, an eighth-grader at Esperanza Middle School, spells a word after employing his visualization process at the 32nd annual St. Mary's County Spelling Bee at Great Mills High School on Wednesday night. Franz was the winner. Christopher Marszalek, an eighth-grader from Little Flower School, placed second, while Blake Buckler, a seventh-grader from Mother Catherine Spalding School, finished third. In all, 33 spellers from 12 St. Mary's schools competed.
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There wasn't a single word in Wednesday night's 32nd annual St. Mary's County Spelling Bee that Jared Franz didn't already know. That's because he said he not only heard them, but saw them.
Franz, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Esperanza Middle School, won the bee at Great Mills High School using a method he said he had seen national champion spellers employ on television. "I was visualizing each word," he said.
He wasn't kidding. When given a word to spell by pronouncer Cathy Allen, vice chair of the St. Mary's school board, Franz would usually pause, hold up the name placard ribboned around his neck and appear to read silently from the back of it. Then, after confirming the word's language of origin, he would carefully but confidently spell it out. "When I ‘saw' the word, I was ready to spell through it," he said.
With his method clearly proven successful, Franz will try it out at the next level. As St. Mary's champion, he will represent the county at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., from June 2 to 4. The local bee and the national berth are sponsored by The Enterprise, Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, the College of Southern Maryland and Chaney Enterprises.
As St. Mary's champion, Franz also won Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary and its Addenda Section, along with the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award — a $100 U.S. Savings Bond. He also received a one-year subscription to Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online.
Franz spelled his way through nine rounds, going toe to toe with fellow eighth-grader Christopher Marszalek of Little Flower School before Marszalek misspelled "diphthong." Franz corrected that, then spelled "impetuous" to clinch the championship.
"I thought it was kind of intense," Marszalek, 14, said of the final rounds. "I was happy to get that far. I thought I'd get eliminated before that, but I just got some words I could spell. It was the luck of the cards."
Marszalek was hardly lucky, but skillful. He successfully spelled "expertise," "mongrel," "simile," "allegory," "howitzer," "flamboyant," "patina" and "hedonism" before going out. For his efforts, he received Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, along with an Amazon.com gift certificate and a one-year subscription to Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online.
"I was really nervous earlier, but then when it got down to the two of us, I felt a little better," Franz said. "When he missed his word, I thought, ‘I know I can spell that word, and I hope I can spell the next one, too.'"
Franz's victory marks the ninth time an Esperanza student has won the St. Mary's bee, the most of any school. Esperanza last produced a champion when Jennifer McFann won the county title in 1998.
Blake Buckler, a seventh-grader from Mother Catherine Spalding School, finished third. He correctly spelled "hickory," "caribou," "cafeteria," "salmonella," "trajectory," "insidious" and "mariachi" before being eliminated on "peloton." He won an Amazon.com gift certificate and a one-year subscription to Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online.
The bee began with 33 spellers representing 12 schools. Eight spellers went out in the first round before the second round claimed 11 more. Four were eliminated in the third round, leaving 10 spellers. After two dropped out in the fourth round, it took two more rounds to whittle the field to six. In the seventh round, two solid spellers went out. Caleb Thompson, a seventh-grader from Chesapeake Public Charter School, missed "eclectic." Then, Molly McGowan, an eighth-grader from Spring Ridge Middle School, misspelled "bowery." Rachel Villa, an eighth-grader from Margaret Brent Middle School, was eliminated on "bellicose," which distilled the field to the final three spellers.
Franz said he put a lot of effort into preparing for this year's spelling bee. "I went out in the second round last year, and I knew I could do better," he said. "I didn't expect I'd win it, but I just wanted to do better. So I worked on some online spelling exercises. My reading and language arts teacher at Esperanza, Ms. [Amber] Konek, did a really great job helping all of us prepare this year. My mom and my sisters, my whole family, have helped me get ready, too."
Franz said his favorite subject in middle school is English. "I'm trying to get into St. Mary's Ryken, into their international studies and law program," he said. "The international studies part sounds really interesting."
He said his preparation for the national spelling bee in June won't be much different.
"I'm going to study as much of this big thing as I can," he said, patting his massive, newly won dictionary.
32 years of St. Mary's County spelling bee champs
2010 Jared Franz, Esperanza
2009 Jackie Smedley, St. John's
2008 Michael Dugan, St. John's
2007 Amanda Shoemaker, Leonardtown
2006 Shane Mulligan, Leonard Hall
2005 Ike Elele, Leonardtown
2004 Kevin Bowes, Leonardtown
2003 Daniel Avery, home-schooled student
2002 Kristina Runde, Margaret Brent
2001 Erin Taylor, Little Flower
2000 Alyssa Keating, Margaret Brent
1999 Julian Spiegler, Margaret Brent
1998 Jennifer McFann, Esperanza
1997 Joseph Willett, Leonardtown
1996 Chetan Patil, Margaret Brent
1995 Melanie Lake, Spring Ridge
1994 Tamara Moore, Little Flower
1993 Seema Patil, Margaret Brent
1992 Anupama Jayaraman, Margaret Brent
1991 Anupama Jayaraman, Margaret Brent
1990 Bernardo de los Reyes, St. John's
1989 Bernardo de los Reyes, St. John's
1988 Rebecca Taylor, Margaret Brent
1987 Jason Kaiser, Esperanza
1986 Heather Nash, Esperanza
1985 Millicent White, Spring Ridge
1984 Rose Thorne, Esperanza
1983 Rose Thorne, Esperanza
1982 Rose Thorne, Esperanza
1981 Kenneth Moon, Leonard Hall
1980 April Bernard, Esperanza
1979 April Bernard, Esperanza
