Wednesday, February 18, 2009 10:01 PM CST
CMS student spells way to regional bee
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
OAKLAND — Etymology is defined as the study of word history, so it was fitting that studious Gina Liu spelled this word correctly on her way to winning Wednesday’s Coles County Spelling Bee.
Liu, a seventh-grader from Charleston Middle School, spelled “etymology” and 17 other words correctly during the bee at Lake Crest School in Oakland. Now she will advance to the regional spelling bee on March 21 at Millikin University in Decatur.
After winning the Charleston bee in recent weeks, Liu said she continued studying regularly in preparation for the Coles County bee. She said her knowledge of words has also been helped by her being an avid reader.
Still, Liu said having “etymology” read off as one of her spelling words gave her pause. She had pronouncer Betty Simon define this word, which sounds similar to entomology, the study of insects.
“I just saw (‘etymology’) in my mind, like it was being written out. That is pretty much how I spell,” Liu said.
A competitive field of eight middle school students was pared down to just Liu and Cody Borntreger, an eight-grader form Lake Crest, after several rounds of spelling.
Liu and Borntreger each went through nine pairs of words correctly before Borntreger misspelled “triumvirate” and Liu correctly spelled “rupee” and then “physique” to win the bee. Liu said she did not mind these extended rounds of head-to-head competition.
“It just ups the stakes,” Liu said.
Simon advised the spellers they would probably always remember the words they misspelled.
Borntreger said he is not sure if he will remember “triumvirate,” but added he still remembers the correct spelling for “Gatling” after misspelling it as “Gatlin” during his sixth-grade bee. He said “Gatling” is often pronounced without the last “g,” so this taught him to ask for pronunciations during bees.
The Oakland student spelled “luau,” “corporal,” “synopsis,” and 13 other words correctly on his way to being one of the final two competitors during the bee.
“I did a bit of studying with my parents and I studied with my grandpa a bit,” Borntreger said, adding he does not like to study but is a fan of fiction novels. “I read a lot, so that probably helps.”
The other spellers included Charleston students Cordy Horn and Jaylin Jones, Lake Crest students Chloe Grimes and Shannon McBurney, and Mattoon students Zackary Armstrong and Joey Benham. Mattoon speller Todd Reardon was unable to attend the bee.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
CLICK TO ENLARGE
|
|
|
