On a video conference call Wednesday, 10 third and fourth graders from Union Elementary School battled it out to see who would be crowned the school’s 2020 Spelling Bee Champion.
In the end, fourth grader Lauren Sharp took home the crown after 22 rounds of competition, first spelling the word ‘zenith’ correctly after third grader and runner-up Emberley Martin faltered on the word, marking the zenith of her spelling prowess at Union Elementary School this year. She clinched the title by spelling the next word, ‘yacht,’ correctly.
“It’s really exciting and I feel really good because I studied really hard,” Sharp said. “It was really fun to even have the chance to be in the spelling bee.”
During the first week of March, third and fourth grade teachers held in-class competitions, one for each day of the week, tallying how many victories students received. The top 10 were initially going to compete in front of their parents in an organized event at the school, the winner advancing to the Johnson County Spelling Bee. But the growing COVID-19 pandemic, caused schools to shutter March 16.
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Gov. Eric Holcomb ordered schools closed through May 1 at the earliest, putting the Johnson County tournament in jeopardy. Still, Union Elementary School Principal Katie Smith wanted to find a way to reward the school’s best spellers for their hard work, Smith said.
“Since the kids worked so hard to get to the final round, we sent them home and did a practice round,” Smith said. “We thought it would be fun to do it. We have trophies and ribbons ordered.”
Smith and other administrators quickly figured out a way to conduct the spelling bee over Google Hangout, an online video conferencing software. They conducted a practice run Wednesday morning, then held the competition that night.
Last year’s judges agreed to judge the competition again: Franklin Community Schools assistant superintendent Brooke Worland, instructional coach Denise Rodenhuis, Union Elementary School administrative assistant Stephanie McCrary, and Union Elementary School instructional coach Karle Hougland, who read the words to students during the spelling bee.
During the competition, Martin hung around with Sharp until the end. Her mother helped her study for the bee, she said. The studying paid off in the 11th round when she was tasked with spelling a word she was familiar with: yeast.
“I had seen the word before,” Martin said. “I tried to remember how to spell it. I have a good memory.”
Fourth grader Clayton Eldridge, one of the final three contestants, made it to the 15th round of competition. He counted on his love of reading to help him, Eldridge said.
“I didn’t really prepare, I just went with what I got here. I read a lot of books,” Eldridge said. “I didn’t have much of a strategy. All of it was in my head.”
Smith will mail ribbons to all of the contestants, and deliver trophies to Sharp and Martin when it’s safe to do so, Smith said.
Emily Ericson, a high ability instructor at Union Elementary School, has all three of the top finishers in her reading section, Ericson said.
“I thought they all did great,” Ericson said after the competition Wednesday. “It was just really fun to see all the kids do the competition, even though they’re doing home learning. It’s a nice pick-me-up tonight and I’m so proud of my kids.”
