First Spelling Bee At King’s a Success

Students screwed on their thinking caps for the first-ever Spelling Bee at The King's College at 8:00 p.m. on Nov. 16. About 25 to 30 individuals attended the bee, 15-20 of which also participated.

The final three contestants each received prizes: first place (Emily Miller) received a statue of the Empire State Building, second place (Ricky Crotinger) a box of alphabet cereal, and third place (Taylor Crow) two cans of alphabet soup.

The first ever spelling bee at King's, there was some uncertainty about the event, but organizers feel it was a success.

"I was really happy with the turnout," Bria exclaimed. "I wasn't sure what it would be for an event like this, but it was just what we hoped for."

Sophomore Bria Sandford (‘12) and Joy Wilkie (‘11) had the vision for the event, and both worked to make it a reality. Sandford pronounced words at the event - giving each student their word to spell.

Participant Caz Crane did not expect to be participating in the bee, but was glad he did.

Other students on the help board were Christina Stewart, Timothy Wainwright, the announcer, Abigail Sattler, who provided definitions upon request, and Jonathan Irwin - he provided contextual sentences upon request.

Partway through the event, Irwin passed the torch off to Ben George - his humorous tones and sentences added an entertaining element to the event. After misspelling two words, a student was out of the competition. The last two contestants had to each spell two words correctly to win the competition.

"It was fun. It was well done. It was good to compete but also really serious at the same time," said Crane.

The audience seemed to enjoy watching the contestants' struggles and triumphs, applauding for each contestant and laughing at Ben George's hilarity.

"It looks like there's some good little spellers at our school," said attendee Rebecca Sears.

Overall, both attendees and organizers think it was a success.

"I was really thankful for those who came and participated...and Joy did so much work for it," Sandford said.