Top spellers win spots in state competition

Blue Valley Middle School seventh-grader Madison Leighty is the 2010 Johnson County Spelling Bee champion.

After spelling her way through more than an hour of final-round competition, she correctly spelled the word “rebarbative,” to win the bee. The word is an adjective that means causing annoyance or irritation.

Madison took home a trophy and will join seven other Johnson County students in the state Sunflower Spelling Bee in March.

“It feels good,” Madison said.

The county bee took place Saturday, Jan. 30 at Lakewood Middle School, 6601 Edgewater Drive, Overland Park, and included student competitors from Johnson County area public and private schools. More than 80 students competed in the county bee after qualifying through winning a bee at their own school.

Madison said she worked with her mom on learning spelling words to prepare for competition. The final-round segment continued for more than 20 rounds, with most between only two competitors: Madison and Mount Olive Lutheran School fourth-grader Blake Fosburgh.

“I just kept telling myself if I come in first or second, just keep going,” Madison said. “… My friends came to support me and it helped me with my words.”

Blake and Madison battled through words including “itinerary,” “smorgasbord” and “hukilau.” At the end of the bee, Blake, the county’s second-place winner, also took home a trophy. Other than his own school bee, he had never been in a similar competition before Saturday, he said.

“I’m proud to be a part of it,” Blake said. “I think it is an honor. I said, ‘I’m going to do my best and what happens, happens.’”

Area school districts take turns hosting the state-qualifying county bee. This year the Blue Valley School District hosted. Students came “very well-prepared” for the event this year, coordinator Mary Jane Weishar said.

“They were interested,” Weishar said. “They were asking questions about root words, origins.”

She said she was impressed to see fourth- through eighth-graders asking such questions in the bee.

“It shows higher level thinking,” Weishar said.

From this point, eight Johnson County students will head to the state spelling bee. Each participating Kansas county is allowed to send one state competitor for every 10 that participate in the qualifying bee. The state bee will be held March 13 at Barton County Community College. It is a qualifying bee for the 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee, held in May.

Last year, Kavya Shivashankar, Olathe, became the first Kansas speller in more than 20 years to claim the national title.

In addition to Madison and Blake, other Johnson County spellers who qualified for the state bee are Lakewood Middle School eighth-grader Olivia Zhao, Leawood Middle School eighth-grader Grace Li, Trailridge Middle School eighth-grader Connor McDonald, Harmony Middle School seventh-grader Abhik Nag, Westridge Middle School seventh-grader Lucas Reuter and Prairie Elementary School sixth-grader Tevin Niang-Trost.

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written by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , February 03, 2010

Great article!
By the way, Madison's last name is spelled Leighty.
Thanks,
Jan (Madison's mom)

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