Students at Sandy Creek Middle School in grades 5-8 competed on December 16 in an early round of the Scripps Spelling Bee.
After several re-scheduled dates due to adverse weather in the district, the contest proved to be a real barn-burner with two students slugging it out for the title of top speller in the school.
The Middle School contest was coordinated by 8th grade English teacher Jodi Whitney and was used to determine who will representative the district as they advance to next level of the prestigious spelling competition.
To prepare, students used study guides and word lists provided by Scripps and their teachers. The students qualified by first taking a written spelling test, before taking the stage in the auditorium in front of fellow students, teachers and family members to begin the challenge.
With each progressive round, the spelling words became increasingly difficult until only two spellers remained standing.
The final two students, Tori Jenkins and Seth Lurcock went back and forth before Lurcock was finally named Sandy Creek Middle School Spelling Champion.
Lurcock, as top speller, moves on to the Post Standard/WCNY Spelling Bee to be held in January. The Scripps National Spelling Bee Week will take place May 25-31 near Washington, D.C.
The spelling bee helps students improve spelling, increase vocabulary and proper English language usage, and the Scripps contest is the nation’s largest and longest-running spelling bee.
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