By Deb Hurley Brobst, Staff Writer for Canyon Courier
Pair in a dead heat at area spelling bee
A satisfying cadence infuses the words spelled aloud
at a bee — staccato, enunciated, sometimes fast,
sometimes slow.
The 80-minute Mountain Area Spelling Bee
on Jan. 25 at Wilmot Elementary saw 21 third- through
seventh-graders using their spelling-bee cadences as they went
through round after round.
This year’s contest had its dramatic moments, and after
the final two contestants went 10 rounds spelling difficult
words correctly, bee officials declared it a draw, and those two
students will be sent to the state bee.
The winners are Evergreen Middle School seventh-grader
Stephen Cindrich, who won the competition last year, and
Wilmot Elementary School third-grader Daniel Buddin.
“We have no more difficult words,” Wilmot digital teacherlibrarian
Susan Jeffres told the audience of parents, sibling and
teachers. “We will just send both of them to the state bee.”
Stephen correctly spelled such words as castellated, rheumatic,
netsuke and chevalier; Daniel spelled prestidigitation,
pugnacious, moiety and outré.
The audience — and even the judges — expressed their
appreciation by smiling and applauding as the two contestants
spelled the difficult words. Some shook their heads that
students so young could spell words so difficult.
Retired Wilmot teacher Tammy Stortz, the bee’s word
pronouncer, quipped that the judges were running out of
words she could pronounce.
Stephen and Daniel will take a written test, and if they
pass, they will move on to the Colorado bee on March 11 at the
University of Denver.
The Mountain Area Spelling Bee includes students from
Wilmot, Bergen Valley and Parmalee elementary schools and
Evergreen Middle School. The Conifer bee will be Feb. 6.
Stephen said he didn’t do well on last year’s written test as a
precursor to the state competition, but with knowledge of what
the test is like, he has a better plan on how to prepare.
Daniel’s dad, Tim Buddin, said his son has an affinity for
words, and that once Daniel sees a word, he remembers it.
“He has a marvelous brain,” Tim said. “He absorbs
everything.”
Daniel’s mom, Shelagh Baines, added that Daniel likes
writing, and he sees patterns in everything, which can help
with spelling.
In addition to Daniel and Stephen, other participants
included: Brett Klenken, Calvin Fuller-Keany, Riley Stormont
and Asher McWilliams from EMS; Riley Sullivan, Caitlin
Ast, Logan Killough, Maddie Krause and Violet Collins from
Parmalee; Jack Griffiths, Nico Lalouette, Grace Johnson, Chloe
Dadian and Chase Groom from Bergen Valley; and Ben Reid,
Brendan Phoebe, Alec Thomson, Johnny White and Steven
Zoeller from Wilmot.