FSCH student wins county spelling bee

Friday, February 15, 2008
Bourbon County Spelling Bee coordinator and Fort Scott Christian Heights teacher Maria Bahr presents Fort Scott Middle school eighth grade student Autumn Owenby with a new Merriam-Webster dictionary for her third place win. Also pictured, from left, first place winner P.J. Self, a Christian Heights eighth grade student, and second place winner Faith Davolt, a Christian Heights seventh grade student. Tribune photo/Rayma Silvers

With the ever increasing reliance that society has on technology today, the ability to have excellent written communication skills is beneficial.

Part of having these skills is the ability to spell the written words correctly. Area students who have been honing their spelling skills were given the opportunity to let those skills shine.

During the Bourbon County Spelling Bee on Wednesday, 78 middle school students from West Bourbon Elementary, Fort Scott Middle School and Fort Scott Christian Heights assembled in the Fort Scott Christian Heights gymnasium to showcase their spelling abilities.

After being tagged with a number and placed in a specific order, the students took on the challenge of spelling both familiar and unfamiliar words. After six rounds, the number of students had finally dwindled to two, and a volley of pronunciations and spellings began. The two remaining students, Fort Scott Christian Heights seventh grade student Faith Davolt and FSCH eighth grade student P.J. Self, continued to pass the microphone back and forth as each recited the correct spelling of the words pronounced. However, in the end, Self prevailed over Davolt.

After the first and second place winners had been determined, the judges, Stephanie George from FSMS, Kathleen Gililand from WBE and Terry Chance from FSCH, ascertained who the third place winner was.

Since two competitors had been removed from the competition due to the incorrect spelling of words in round six, those two students were brought back to compete in a third place tie-breaker. Fort Scott Middle School eighth graders Taylor Grant and Autumn Owenby competed head to head in the final competition of the day with Owenby securing the third place slot.

On March 8, Self will travel to Barton County Community College in Great Bend to compete in the Sunflower State Spelling Bee. According to Bourbon County Spelling Bee coordinator Maria Bahr, this is the first year that the spelling bee will be conducted in Great Bend. In the past, it was conducted in Topeka, but this year it is being sponsored by the Great Bend Tribune.

According to the Sunflower State Spelling Bee Web site, www.gbtribune.com/bee, the newspaper is excited to be sponsoring the spelling bee this year.

"The Great Bend Tribune is proud to announce our sponsorship of a Kansas Regional Spelling Bee in 2008. Our region includes 76 Kansas counties. Students declared county champion from each of the 76 counties will be invited to the Sunflower Spelling Bee in Great Bend on March 8, 2008, at Barton County Community College. The Bee starts at 1 p.m. The winner of the regional bee will win an all-expense paid trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May 2008," the statement said.