by Carrie Moritz,
Garretson Gazette
On Friday, January 20, Garretson Elementary students cheered on twenty-four of their friends as they competed in the Scripps Spelling Bee competition. After 165 words and 15 rounds, the top three students were declared eligible for the state level.
The spelling bee, which is sponsored by the Garretson PTO, encouraged students from kindergarten to 5th grade to find sponsors for their correctly-spelled words over the Christmas break. While all grades held a class-level spelling bee in mid-January, the top four students from grades 3-5 moved on to the school-level competition.
The competition started off fairly simple, with words such as "had", "sits", and "barked", but quickly leveled up in difficulty as each round began. The final rounds included "unacknowledged", "geopolitics", "feisty", and "tenets."
However, Garretson students quickly showed their proficiency with spelling as rounds continued, with most competitors getting their words spelled correctly.
"After 200 words, they start to get really hard," said Kim Macziewski, Title I teacher and spelling word pronouncer. (Normally, the Elementary Principal fulfills that role, but she had to excuse herself that day for a funeral.) Words at that level include "miscellaneous", "Vesuvian", "Arcturus", and "eurythmics".
The Scripps Spelling Bee website notes that all words come from the Merriam-Webster dictionary and the lists change each year.
Fourth grade teacher Liz Eitrheim and fifth grade teacher Lisa Danforth served as spelling bee judges, neutrally determining whether the word had been spelled correctly.
After ten rounds and nearly 140 words, the first-place winner, third grader Landen Snyders, was declared.
Left on deck were fifth graders Jada Hansen and Mason Snyders, and fourth grader Eliot Brim. All three spelled their words incorrectly, resulting in a spell-off to determine second and third place.
Hansen next spelled her word correctly, snatching second place, while M. Snyders and Brim continued to battle against each other for third. After 15 rounds, M. Snyders faltered on spelling "tenets," ending the competition.
The winners will next move on to the state competition to be held at the University of South Dakota in March.
