Mountain Lake’s Maurissa Isaacs finishes fourth, Kaliana Xayaphonesonghkam from Butterfield-Odin is 12th
A pair of area spellers competed in the South Central Service Cooperative’s Spelling Bee on Tuesday evening, February 18, in the Conference Center on the campus of South Central College in North Mankato.
Seventh-grader Maurissa Isaacs from Mountain Lake Public High School, returned to the site after competing in the regional last year as a sixth-grader, at which she ended runner-up. This year, Maurissa was fourth in the competition, competing through seven rounds. Although she successfully spelled words including ravel, wiseacre, susceptible and macrame, she left the contest on “b-o-u-d-o-i-r. Maurissa advanced to the Regional Spelling Bee by winning the local school contest in January.
Butterfield-Odin Public High School’s Kaliana Xayaphonesongkham, also in the seventh-grade, finished in 12th place. She, too, had earlier won her school spelling bee in a January contest.
Each girl has another year of eligibility remaining in the contest, which ranges from fifth-grade to eighth-grade students.
Winning this year – in the 14th round – was Kellen Rodriguez, an eighth-grader from Fairmont Public Junior High, correctly spelling “n-e-m-e-s-i-s.” With the championship, Rodriguez wins the right to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, to be held in late May in Washington, D.C.
A total of 41 spellers, from both regional public and private schools, competed in the contest. All had previously won their respective school’s bee.
South Central Service Cooperative sponsors the Regional Spelling Bee for the South Central Region of Minnesota. Counties covered by this event, in addition to Cottonwood and Watonwan, include Blue Earth, Brown, Faribault, Le Sueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley and Waseca.
The competition is open to winners of sponsored Regional Spelling Bees in the United States – including territories such as Guam, American Samoa and the United States Virgin Islands – along with overseas military bases in Germany and South Korea. It is also open to to contestants from Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, New Zealand, Ghana and the Bahamas. Participants from these countries must also be regional spelling bee winners.
Since 1994, ESPN has televised the later rounds of the National Bee during evening broadcasts, and since 2006, earlier rounds have aired on the cable channel during the day. The Championship Finals are broadcast in prime time on ABC.
In addition to improving students’ spelling skills and increasing their vocabulary, Spelling Bee participation provides valuable experience in developing poise – a necessary skill for success in public speaking, performing arts and athletics.