Middle School Students Spell It Out at Annual Bee

The bee started with 12 competitors – four representatives from each grade. To earn a seat at the all-school spelling bee, students had to win the in-class contents that were held during their English classes.

Each speller got one word per round, and at the end of the round, any student who misspelled their word was dismissed. Per standard spelling bee rules, after receiving the word, a speller could ask for the definition, the origin, or to have the word used in a sentence. As the rounds went on, the words became increasingly challenging, prompting many students to consider the word’s origin in sounding it out.

All 12 spellers cruised through round one, with eliminations occurring starting in round two. At the conclusion of round four, only five students remained. They were challenged to correctly spell words like “conspiratorial”, “gullet”, and “effectual”. After the sixth round, with the words “algebraic”, “miscreant”, and “infrastructure” in the mix, the competition came down to the final two contestants – Waters and eighth-grader Kaia Lunde.

Waters went first, correctly spelling “translucent”. Lunde then incorrectly spelled her next word to set up a potential victory for Waters, who confidently handled “vociferous” to seal the win in his first-ever Middle School Spelling Bee.

Kurek now advances to the regional Anne Arundel County Spelling Bee in March.