Plains student wins Sanders County Spelling Bee
Shaira Caldwell, of Paradise, was the first contestant at the 24th annual Sanders County Spelling Bee on Thursday afternoon at the Thompson Falls Senior Citizen Center.
Twenty-five students from Sanders County competed in the 24th annual county spelling bee last Thursday afternoon at the Thompson Falls Senior Citizen Center.
The winner, Danika Whitcomb, a seventh grader from Plains, will go on to compete in the state spelling bee, which is in Billings on Saturday, March 26. The top three winners from the county bee are eligible to go to the state bee in case the original winner cannot attend. Prizes at the Sanders County bee included a trophy and a savings bond.
According to a spelling bee judge Carolyn Hidy, the second place winner was Nyqolas Gillingham of Dixon, third place winner was Kaden Peak also of Dixon, and the fourth place winner was Douglas Damschen of Plains.
Many parents and family members came to watch their children compete. The students had one practice round which is made up of an easier list of words.
“The practice round helps them get rid of butterflies and make sure they understand the rules,” said Paula Nelson, the Bee Director.
“Spelling bees help reward students who are serious about their education, and gives them a reason to be proud of their spelling. It’s sort of like an extra curricular activity of academics,” said Nelson, who is also a retired teacher and has helped run the county’s spelling bee for 12 years.
The pronouncer, Dan Whittenburg, of First Security Bank, led the bee, saying the word twice and offering a definition if the student asked.
“I really like being the pronouncer,” said Whittenburg. “I practice pronouncing the words before the bee to make sure I say it correctly for the students. They are already nervous enough, and I want to make sure they hear the word clearly and understand it.”
“Once you say a letter, you can’t say it again, you are done,” said Nelson. “If you spell the word incorrectly, please take a seat in the audience and you will be disqualified.”
Nelson also warned the students that once they began to spell the word, and the letter was spoken, they couldn’t start over or correct themselves.
There were 75 words, making up about four rounds in the spelling bee. However those 75 words were chosen from about 350, and 290 of those were usable, said Whittenburg.
“We didn’t want to use homonyms such as ‘lead’ and ‘led,’” said Whittenburg.
According to Nelson, the list of words comes from Billings, and is not generated locally, although there is some liberty by the judges of what words are used.