2013 Spelling Bee

 

March 19, 2013, Jared Ward, 8^th grader from Albert R. Lyman Middle School in San Juan District, made a 3-peat as top speller after a competitive twenty six rounds in the annual Region Spelling Bee. Jared prepared for this Bee since last year’s title by studying thousands of words and hoping to take top honors again for his last appearance at the Region Bee. His hard work paid off although there was a nervous moment when he misspelled “condescension” in Round 22.  Fortunately for Jared, the second place speller, Paul Bryner, then misspelled “imperceptible.”  According to the Scripps Spelling Bee national rules, in order to be declared champion Paul would have had to spell the next word correctly.  So Jared was back in the competition and went on to clinch the title with the championship word “conniption.”

 

Jared started the bee spelling words like rucksack, hickory, animosity, formidable, parfait, and semantics. The Bee brought together spellers from Carbon, Emery, Grand, and San Juan Districts plus Pinnacle Canyon Academy.  The 7^th round thinned the original field of 14 to 5 excellent spellers who went six more rounds without a mistake.  By Round 15 Noah Kemner and Paul Bryner kept pace with Jared for 5 more rounds. Noah was named 3^rd place speller with Paul Bryner claiming the 2^nd spot. Interestingly there two sets of brothers competing in this year’s Region Bee, the Bryner’s and the Park’s.   

 

Sponsored by the Southeast Education Service Center, this year’s Region Bee was held at Grand High. Thanks to Larry Davis, Principal of Emery High, who pronounced the Bee words and Theresa Wilson and Johnna Boyack who served as judges. The Region Bee is a preliminary competition in the Scripps National Spelling Bee held during Bee Week 2013, May 26-June 1 in Washington D.C. 

 

As first place speller, Jared received an all-expense paid trip for two to Washington D.C. to compete in the National Bee.  He also was awarded a Louis Sugarman Award of a 2013 Mint Proof Set and a Merriam-Webster’s Third New International Dictionary.  1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place spellers received a year’s subscription to Encylopaedia Brittannica Online.  In addition,  2^nd and 3^rd place winners received a $25 Amazon Gift certificate. A Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary was also provided for the speller of choice.

 

The top three District spellers grades 4 through 8 from Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan School Districts as well as Pinnacle Canyon Academy advanced to the Region Bee from bees held in their local schools and districts earlier this year.

 

Grand spellers came from HMK:  Teddy Park, Mary Kimmerle & Kevin Park

Emery District sent Simone Burton, Tiana Jensen & Lainee Jensen

Competing from Carbon District were Paul Bryner, James Bryner & Peyton Hocanson

San Juan District spellers Jared Ward, Noah Kemner & Annsheri Reay  

Pinnacle Academy participants were Marco Clegg, Isaac Ochao & J.R. Jensen

 

The Scripps Bee is the nation’s largest and longest-running educational promotion, administered on a not-for-profit basis by The E.W. Scripps Company and sponsors in the United States, American Samoa, Canada, China, Europe, Ghana, Guam, Jamaica, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Bee’s purpose is to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives.

 

Nine newspapers collaborated to start the National Spelling Bee in 1925. In 1941, Scripps took over sponsorship of the National Spelling Bee. However, there was no Scripps National Spelling Bee during the war years of 1943–45. Co-champions were declared in 1950, 1957, and 1962.

 

The program experienced steady growth between the 1920s and the 1970s, and between 1980 and 1990 the number of participants doubled.

In recent years the program underwent a second growth spurt — and a significant surge in popularity — thanks to live coverage on ESPN.

 

Best of luck to Jared in the National Spelling Bee in May!!