County spelling bee will be Feb. 19
Jackson Middle School dominated the Area 5 spelling bee Tuesday, with sixth-grader Ashley Partin taking first place and eighth-grader Dustin Pike finishing second.
Both qualified for the Aiken county School District event, scheduled at the Washington Center for the Arts Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.
Ashley won the Area 5 contest on her 12th birthday. She and Dustin had finished one-two at their school competition as well - the first spelling bee Ashley had ever entered.
Linda Steele, an English teacher at Jackson, teaches Dustin and will have Ashley as a student in two years.
"I'm so proud of them," Steele said. "They all seemed so calm up there."
Actually, that wasn't quite the case, Ashley said.
"I was nervous," she said. "Every time somebody would get a word, I would try to spell it in my head too."
Third place went to Redcliffe Elementary School fifth-grader Jaycie Ward. She will serve as an alternative at the district meet.
That contest will feature 10 spellers in grades 5-8 who finished first or second at each of the five attendance areas. The event will be sponsored by URS Corporation and Washington Savannah River Company. Prizes will be awarded to the winner and all the contestants.
Area 3 had some big news, as LBC Middle School seventh-grader Kaitlynn Haney won the contest for the third straight year. William Hardy, a Leavelle McCampbell Middle school seventh-grader, took second.
In 2008, Kaitlynn and Will Harris, a Paul Knox Middle School eighth-grader, staged a spirited two-person race before Will took the title. After the other students had been eliminated, Kaitlynn and Will went through an amazing 23 rounds that took about 30 minutes.
The Area 1 winner was Payton Carter, a fifth-grader from St. Mary Help of Christians School. Second went to Austin Rentz, a Schofield Middle School eighth-grader.
Michele Conner, the Aiken County School District's elementary education coordinator, has coordinated the spelling bee for the past 12 years.
"It's a lot of fun," said Conner. "They do such a great job. It's hard to spell a word without seeing it written. I'm always amazed at the fifth-graders who make it to the district contest."
Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.
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