BY
BILL CAMPEAU
Third
grade spelling bee winner Brandi Bushman receives her award from
Coarsegold elementary principal Randy Haggard.
The top spellers
in third, fourth and fifth grades in 13 of the 14 elementary schools
entered in the eighth annual Eastern Madera County Regional Spelling
Bee squared off Tuesday before a packed audience at Coarsegold Elementary.
It took 15 words to reach a third grade winner - Brandi Bushman
of Oakhurst Elementary who correctly spelled “style.” She was followed
closely in second place by Tyler D’Amore of Coarsegold Elementary.
Some of the tougher-to-spell words that knocked out their competition
were “attempt,” “surprised,” and “neighbor.”
The fourth grade students had an even more difficult time. They
went through 18 words - and some of them were killers - before a
winner emerged. Alone at the end, Tia Thomas, of Mountain Home School,
spelled “cottage” and that was that.
Joseph Matsushita of Chawanakee Academy was second and Luke Shapiro
of Wasuma Elementary and Alison Guzman of Seventh Day Adventist
School tied for third.
Some of their words were difficult, some were tricky. “Governor,”
“succeed” and “anchor” caught some spellers off guard. Others ran
into “typical” and “decide” and got derailed.
Interestingly, the fifth grade spellers seemed to run into difficulties
earlier in their competition. Brooke Schneider, from Oakhurst Elementary,
won the trophy by spelling “peculiar.” Dana Lorenzana of Chawanakee
Academy placed second and Chase Hagerman at Coarsegold Home School,
was third.
The judges were Kathy Casey, a member of the Coarsegold school board,
and Earlene Ward, who teaches journalism at Yosemite High School
and is director of the school’s special programs. The bees are being
sponsored by the Coarsegold PTA and Sierra Tel.
Fourteen mountain area schools are participating in the 8th annual
event, but not all of them have students in all grades. Coarsegold
Elementary principal Randy Haggard reminded the audience that all
the spellers were winners. “They are the top spellers in their respective
classes at each school,” he said.
The championship bee for grades six through eight will be held on
March 23 at 7 p.m. at Coarsegold Elementary when 12 of the 14 mountain
area schools will send their top spellers to compete. Winners in
third, fourth and fifth grades - Brooke Schneider, Tia Thomas and
Brandi Bushman - can compete, if they choose, in the championship
bee. However, the words are much more difficult. The winning student
receives an all-expense-paid trip for two, including a chaperone,
to Washington, D.C., to compete in the National Spelling Bee in
May.