Hard work pays off for State Spelling Bee contestants

— Bright young Arkansans competed Saturday for the title of No. 1 speller in the 2010 Arkansas State Spelling Bee, presented by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

More than 60 students, winners of their county spelling bees, took the stage at the University Theater at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Many words were pronounced, tears were shed, and at the end, a winner was presented.

Esther Park of Pulaski County won first place and will represent the state in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Coming in second was Taylor Holland of Cleburne County, and inthird place was Gabi Gorgas of Sebastian County.

Holland, the son of Greg and Kathleen Holland, is a student at Heber Springs Middle School.

“I feel great,” Holland said at the end of the morning.

He competed with Gorgas for second place in a spell-off and correctly spelled “conveyance” to win.

“We’re very proud of Taylor,” his father said. “We wish he could have won, but we’re proud of how well he did.” Joseph Lim of White County made it into the top 10 contestants at the competition. He is a student at Ahlf Junior High School.

“He worked independently and he made it into the top 10 of the State Spelling Bee, so we’re very proud of him,” said his mother, Annie Luy. “He was a little disappointed he didn’t make it higher than top 10. I think he’ll try again for next year.”“Linearity” was the word that put an end to Joseph’s spelling streak.

Ben Dean of Lawrence County, the son of Neal and Chrissy Dean, lasted until Round 3, when the word “adagio,” a musical term, got the better of him.

Ben’s mother commented on him making it to the State Spelling Bee: “We were thrilled.

We were so proud of him.

When he got into the county spelling bee, we didn’t have a book or anything to study, so he won the county spelling bee without anything to study. We were thrilled he got to go to state and represent the school.

He was really excited.” Chantelle Pauley of Sharp County is a student at Cave City Middle School. Her mother, Pamela Hicks, accompaniedher on Saturday.

“I’m extremely proud she got this far,” Hicks said before the spelling bee. “If we don’t get any further, this is great.”

Jake Wyatt of Independence County is a student at Southside Middle School.

“Every day I went over a couple of pages of the words,” he said of his efforts to prepare for the spelling bee.” He was tripped up by the word “samovar.”

His parents, Jeff and Mary Lynn Wyatt, are proud that their son made it to the State Spelling Bee. His mother said, “We’re tickled to death. He’s asmart kid.”

Joe Kelley of Stone County, a student at Timbo Schools, attended the spelling bee with his grandparents, Ernest and Sarah Kelley.

“I used the spelling bee’s practice Web site,” Joe said before the event started, noting that he was excited.

“I am happy and proud of Joe and of his school,” Sarah Kelley said. “His teachers have done an excellent job. Joe’s a good student. He works hard.”

Ernest Kelley added, “He’s got five trophies he’s already won.”

Joe went several rounds, but “odyssey” got the better of him.

Mercedes Fullman of Jackson County got hung up by “mariachi” in Round 2. She is the daughter of Jeremy and Cori Mauldin.

“I’m very proud of her. I’m very excited she got this opportunity,” her mother said. “It helps build her knowledge and self-esteem. She’s a very good student and makes straight A’s.”

Fullman noted, “My teacher, Mr. Parks, gave me the 2009 book, and that’s what I studied from. I think if I studied more, it would have lasted longer.”

Sam Jackson of Izard County, a student at Melbourne High School, had trouble with “quesadilla.”

His father, Paul Jackson, said he was “extremely proud” that his son made it to the State Spelling Bee.

“He worked hard for it for years. He’s a real smart kid,” his father said.

Victoria Stanislawski of Lonoke County, the daughter of Jeff Estes and Heidi Stanislawski, lasted until Round 6, when she was given the word “charlatan.”

“I’m very proud of her for making it this far,” Estes said. “It’s a lot of work. A lot of practice. You’ve got to beat out your school, your region. All these spellers are top-notch. A lot of things kids do, they’re part of a crowd, but this is just you. Any adult that looks at the list of words wouldn’t know half of them.”

Three Rivers, Pages 51 on 03/11/2010

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