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Schultz wins local spelling bee
Published 2/8/2010 in Local News
By RACHAEL GRAY
Serrated.
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Brad Nading/Telegram Kenneth Henderson Middle School's Connor Schultz spells “programming” correctly to win the Finney County Spelling Bee Saturday at Garden City High SchoolÕs Clifford Hope Auditorium. Schultz is a seventh-grader.
The word stumped Connor Schultz for a second on Saturday in the Finney County Spelling Bee.
He asked that the word be used in a sentence, asked for the definition and asked for the language of origin.
"S-e-r-r-a-t-e-d, serrated," Schultz said, after a pause.
Schultz, 13, a seventh-grader at Kenneth Henderson Middle School, spelled his way into the final round of the spelling bee and won after he correctly spelled "programming."
En route to becoming the county champion, Schultz spelled "nominee," "panorama" and "officiate" in the final rounds.
McKenzie Hanigan, 11, a sixth-grader at Plymell Elementary, competed against Schultz in the final round and finished as the runner-up.
She misspelled "caldera" to give Schultz the chance at the win.
John Vanatta, 12, a sixth-grader at Plymell, took third. He was eliminated before the final round for misspelling "algorithm."
All three are eligible to compete at the state spelling bee March 13 in Great Bend.
Although Schultz said he didn't study as much as he should have, he felt confident coming in to Saturday's bee, held at Clifford Hope Auditorium at Garden City High School.
He is a returner to the county bee, placing seventh when he was a fourth-grader and fourth as a fifth-grader.
To prepare for Saturday's bee, Schultz said he studied word lists.
He said "serrated" was one of the words he studied.
"I couldn't remember if it was a 'c' or an 's' so I just picked 's,'" he said.
To prepare for the state bee, Schultz said he will study more.
"You can't just wing it and win state," he said.
About being the county champion, Schultz said "it's pretty sweet."
Although she didn't take first, Hanigan was proud of her success.
"I feel really good. I've never made it past the first round before, so I'm just really proud of myself," she said.
She said she practiced for the county bee for an hour each night by either writing the words down a couple of times or having her mom give her the word to spell out loud.
Vanatta also said his mom helped him prepare for the bee.
If he comes upon a word he doesn't know, Vanatta said he usually sounds it out.
"However I think it sounds, then I'll spell it like that," he said.
Roxanne Reed, head judge for the county bee, prepares the list of words each year.
She said she tries to pick from the Scripps National Spelling Bee master list, but also takes curriculum into account when choosing the words.
She said sometimes making the word list is hard because of the varied ages and reading levels of the participants.
"I really try to hit words that I thought would be challenging but still in the curriculum. I try to make sure that they've seen them," she said.
Garden City and Holcomb Public Schools, and Garden City's two area Catholic schools sent three representatives each to participate in the county bee.
The medals and prizes for the Finney Spelling Bee were donated by the Rita Alsop Memorial Fund, which also paid $100 for each Garden City School to be enrolled in the 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee program. The enrollment fee made it possible for the schools to be eligible to participate in the spelling bee so students could move onto the state and national competitions, according to Roy Cessna, USD 457 public information coordinator.
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