Above photo: Sharon Springs School Spelling Bee Champion, Timothy Simpson, at the mic and receiving a thumbs-up from all the judges after correctly spelling the word, “Rickety.”
SHARON SPRINGS — On the morning of January 28th, Sharon Springs Central School auditorium filled with classes, family, and 10 Spelling Bee contestants from grades 4-8. Sharon Springs School has been participating in this Scripps National Spelling Bee annually for over 30 years according to English Teacher Jennifer Field, who welcomed attendees and led everyone in The Pledge of Allegiance.
School Social Worker, Mr. Scimeca, was the pronouncer and judging was conducted by Ms. Cechnicki (Special Education Teacher), Mr. Horning (Music Teacher), and Mr. Yorke (Superintendent/Principal).
There were 2 participants from each grade level; 4th graders Gabe Willoughby (was a last-minute switch for Lucinda Radliff) & Zane Wright, 5th graders Evan O’Connor & Timothy Simpson, 6th graders Cole Ducharme & Jase Cassidy, 7th graders Lucas Willoughby & Morgan Lynk, and 8th graders Trever Killenberger & Barrett Lynk.
These competitors were part of grade-level classroom spelling bees in early January, then studied lists they were given to prepare for the 28th. During this event, Field announced that the students were sitting in alphabetical order by last names for randomness and the words they were asked to spell were chosen from a list provided officially by Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The rules were laid out and a practice round began where one-by-one competitors took their place at the microphone and were asked to spell the words send, stuck, fish, mind, scrub, brown, tint, yawn, want, and pond.
During the first official round, B. Lynk correctly spelled cosmetics, M. Lynk spelled frustration, O’Connor spelled mascot, and Simpson spelled mustache.
Round 2 began after applause for all of the round 1 spellers. O’Connor gave the correct spelling of fabulous, then Simpson accurately spelled fluently after Yorke called for the word to be pronounced again following Simpson’s repetition of the word sounding more like, “fluency.”
In the final round, O’Connor gave a good effort to spell brandished, but didn’t give the correct spelling and it all came down to Simpson to spell 2 words correctly in a row. He got “anguish” correct, then had one more to go.
“Rickety.” declared Scimeca.
“May I have that in a sentence, please?” Asked Simpson.
Scimeca sited, “The woman stopped to help the rickety old man cross the street.”
“Rickety,” stated Simpson, “R-i-c-k-e-t-y, rickety.”
“That’s correct!” Exclaimed Scimeca, and the auditorium erupted in applause.
A final round of applause was given to all the contestants and participant prizes will be arranged by The Sharon Springs Historical Society. Congratulations and the title of Champion was awarded to 5th-grader Timothy Simpson, who earned his seat in The Capital Region Spelling Bee. Whoever wins The Capital Region Spelling Bee will receive an expense-paid trip to compete in the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Scimeca & Jennifer Field at the podium. Mr. Yorke, Ms. Cechnicki, & Mr. Horning in the judges seats. Competitors: Jase Cassidy, Cole Ducharme, Trever Killenberger, Barrett Lynk, Morgan Lynk, Evan O'Connor, Timothy Simpson, Gabe Willoughby, Lucas Willoughby, & Zane Wright.