In the cafeteria, seventh and eighth graders waited with anticipation to see who would get eliminated and who would take the title of 2014 KJH Spelling Bee Champion. By round five, only ten of the 42 competitors remained. Another five dropped only one round later. By round seven, only three hung in — Ethan Martinez (7th), Ashley Chanmanivong (8th), and Angel Keohacksa (8th). These three battled back and forth until Ethan got eliminated in round 14. Next, Ashley and Angel continued for eleven more rounds with words such as “cygnet,” “wahine,” “heuristic,” and “farrago.”

Angel finished first, making her a two-time spelling bee champion. She will now go on to compete at the Sebastian County Spelling Bee at UAFS in January.

“I honestly didn’t believe that I would win either time, so winning both was incredible,” Angel said. “Both runner-ups were tough, and facing against them made me incredibly nervous.”

Angel was not the only one who was nervous.

“The most challenging part about competing in the spelling bee was remembering how to spell the words because I was nervous,” Ashley, runner-up, said. “When I get nervous, my mind usually goes blank.”

Mrs. Medlin, spelling bee coordinator, believes that students gain experience and confidence in themselves by participating in a spelling bee.

“You can’t always tell which student is going to be the next great speller,” Mrs. Medlin said. “Also, I love to see high interest and participation in spelling bees because I believe spelling and grammar are becoming lost art. I don’t want to see these important speaking and writing skills die. Its B-E-F-O-R-E not ‘B4.’ We speak English, not Bingo!”