GALESBURG — Thursday night at Costa Catholic Academy, 11 students ranging from fourth grade to eighth from schools in Knox and Warren counties competed for a spot in the Regional Spelling Bee in Peoria on March 23. In the end, it was Faith George, a seventh-grader from Churchill Junior High School, who earned that spot.
George won by spelling the championship word, “slaughter,” correctly in the ninth round of competition. She said she has been competing since first grade, six years ago.
“I just go over the words with my parents, go over the ones I get wrong, and then I write them,” George said of her preparation for spelling bees. “A lot of the German and Latin words (I almost miss). Most of these words (at this competition) were pretty easy.”
George added that she was nervously looking forward to the competition in Peoria. She said the win at the Knox-Warren event on Thursday night was her biggest achievement thus far.
Kena McCance, an eighth-grader from Monmouth-Roseville Junior High School, finished runner-up despite being in just her first year of competition. She eventually fell short after misspelling “prairie,” after which George followed with correct spellings of “rupture” and “slaughter.”
“I didn’t really prepare that much,” McCance said. “I did go over my spelling notes from a week ago, but that’s about it,”
Assistant Regional Superintendent of Schools Lori Loving is in her fourth year as a judge with the spelling bee, and said the Regional Office of Education has been hosting the competitions for over 30 years.
“I think there’s a lot of benefits,” Loving said. “The kids are excited, it’s fun, it’s a competition that gives them a recognition that they might not normally get. The practicing and spelling and logistics is great to sharpen your brain, but you also think just the opportunity to do a little public speaking to get up in front of people, that’s a great experience for the kids as well.”
The winner of the Peoria contest will advance to the National Scripps Spelling Bee, which takes May 29-31 in Washington, D.C.