Facing more than a modicum of competition, seventh-grader Aurora Alten-Huber won the 2015 Spelling Bee championship after several rounds of intense head-to-head spelling with the second-place winner.
Alten-Huber, 13, won on the word “modicum” after her opponent, seventh-grader Syerus Davis, misspelled “iteration.”
Davis and Alten-Huber went against each other for three rounds after seven other students participating in the bee were eliminated. Davis correctly spelled several potential stumpers including “pyrite,” “prolific,” and “doldrums” before being defeated by Alten-Huber.
Alten-Huber said she was nervous, even though she had been studying the provided spelling list in recent weeks. She was confident on the spelling of the words she did receive, but was grateful the competition didn’t last long enough to get down to the list’s “super hard” words.
“There were a few words that we didn’t get anywhere near to, that I was pretty unsure of,” she said.
Alten-Huber also won two school-wide spelling championships in West Virginia, where she used to live.
Sixth-grader Emma Gillham and fifth-grader Logan Borcik both stumbled in the sixth round, tying for third place.
Gillham misspelled “seethe,” forgetting to add the final “e.” Gillham said she realized her error when pronouncer Mark Fontenot paused to see if she would continue spelling. “I knew there should have been an ‘e’ at the end,” Gillham lamented.
Borcik also forgot to add a letter to his fateful word, “quibble.” “I missed one ‘b.’ One ‘b’!” Borcik bemoaned.
Principal Cheryl Stickler said the nine-round bee was the longest she’s witnessed during her tenure at the school. Stickler said the elevated performance was likely due to the bee’s transition from a mandatory competition to a club activity with voluntary participation.
Spelling Club has been meeting weekly after school since December.
“I think they were invested in it because they put so much extra practice into it,” Stickler said.
The winner’s travel to the state bee in Anchorage will not be paid for by the school district this year, though the Uglys of Haines have donated $300 toward the $1,000 cost of sending Alten-Huber and a guardian to the competition. The Chilkat Valley News is organizing a donation of frequent-flier miles. To help out, phone 766-2688.
Alten-Huber said she was happy to hear the Uglys had contributed. “I really want to go and it’s probably going to be hard to get that much money,” she said.
Other students who participated in the bee included fourth-grader Mackenzy Dryden, sixth-grader Lydia Andriesen, fourth-grader Sally Chapell, eighth-grader Tailer Olsson and fifth-grader Amber Nash.
Misspelled words that tripped up students included “toddler” (“toddeler”), “abandon” (“abanden”), “hazelnut” (“hazelenut”), “iota” (“ieoa”) and “valorous” (“valerous”).