Noxon, Trout Creek hold spelling bees

Noxon and Trout Creek schools each will send their top four spellers to the Sanders County Spelling Bee after holding their own bees last week. Brooke Smithborne was the Noxon winner while Mikalla Gardner was the top speller from Trout Creek.

Noxon's bee was held Wednesday in their multi-purpose room and 12 students participated from grades five through eight - three from each grade. After Smithborne, the rest of Noxon's top four were comprised seventh-grader Brandon Tiazzola, sixth-grader Kathryn Chandler and eighth-grader Jeremiah Chandler. Smithborne, a seventh-grader, took first after spelling “ominous.” The winners have some experience among them as Tiazzola will be making his third trip to the county bee, which will take place March 3 in Thompson Falls.

Moderating the bee was English teacher Kevin Burchett and the coordinator for the bee was school counselor Robin Frandsen. Frandsen said that compared to last year, this bee lasted a little longer and she said the winners received plaques. The three judges for Noxon's bee were fifth-grade teacher Melinda Ferrell, fourth-grade teacher Maret Philpot and high school English teacher Phyllis Tuma.

Frandsen said she thinks Noxon's top four will compete well at the county bee. She said she views spelling skills and the spelling bees as important, even though it may not seem as important as it used to be.

“I think they did great,” Frandsen said. “I think spelling is really underrated right now. I'm glad they still have spelling bees.”

Frandsen said she doesn't want to see spelling become a lost art.

Trout Creek held its spelling Friday in the multi-purpose room where 13 students participated. Bee coordinator Wendy DosSantos said there were more students signed up but were ill and unable to compete in the bee.

Gardner, a sixth-grader, will represent her school in Thompson Falls along with seventh-graders Neal Jopling, Nolan Allen and Lori Grubius. Gardner took first after successfully spelling “diorama” and this will be her second trip to the county bee. DosSantos, a teacher and librarian at Trout Creek, said one of the reasons Gardner did well this year is that she has competed before.

“She was confident,” DosSantos said. “This was her second year participating and she studied for the bee.”

DosSantos said she was impressed with all the students' calm and collected manner while competing.

“I think the kids were fairly relaxed,” DosSantos said. “Many students tend to be nervous but this year there seemed to be fewer attacks of nerves.”

DosSantos said among the top five spellers in this year's bee, two competed at the county level last year in Gardner and the fifth place speller, Johny Carter. The judges for the bee were supervising teacher Daisy Carlsmith and science and math teacher Ted Miller. Marian Stonehocker, Trout Creek paraprofessional, served as the bee moderator for the seventh year.

Both DosSantos and Frandsen said the bee was different this year at the organizational level. The Scripps National Spelling Bee changed the enrollment process and some bee coordinators in Sanders County have cited some difficulty in planning and preparing for this year's bee. But Sanders County schools are still competing and the winners from each school will compete on the county level. The March 3 county bee will take place at 1 p.m. in the Thompson Falls Senior Center.