HODGDON, Maine — Young wordsmiths showed their spelling prowess Tuesday afternoon as 12 students in grades 6, 7 and 8 at Hodgdon Middle-High and Mill Pond Elementary schools competed to become the next spelling champ.
In a contest that lasted a little less than an hour, students took turns spelling words with increasing difficulty.
Seventh-grader Madison Bridges captured the school title as she correctly spelled “latency” followed by the championship word, “pinnacle.” Bridges face lit up when she heard her final championship word and could barely contain her smile as she started spelling.
Seventh-grader Madison Bridges, left, was crowned the spelling champ at Hodgdon Middle and Mill Pond Elementary School Tuesday afternoon. Sixth-grader Samantha Shank finished as runner-up. (Joseph Cyr)
Sixth-grader Samantha Shank finished as runner-up in the competition.
Both the winner and runner-up earned the right to advance to the Aroostook County Bee. The Northern District (Aroostook County) Scripps National Spelling Bee competition for middle school students will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 7, in Fox Auditorium at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. In case of inclement weather on Feb. 7, the competition will be held at the same time and place on Feb. 8.
Some of the more challenging words posed to the students included “polemic,” which is defined as “a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something” and “pomposity,” which is defined as “the quality of being pompous; self-importance.”
Hodgdon seventh-grader Madison Bridges correctly spells the word “pinnacle” Tuesday afternoon to win the Hodgdon spelling bee title. Bridges bested a field of 11 other spellers to advance to the County Bee on Thursday, Feb. 7, in Fort Kent. (Joseph Cyr)
Bee Master Stephanie Harris welcomed those in attendance and had students spell what seemed to be random words in a practice round, but when those words were read together in a statement afterward, a hidden message became clear. That message was “Listen closely. Think before starting. Apply rules. Speak clearly. Avoid careless mistakes.”
Other students participating in the bee were sixth-graders Brody Little, Kaelynn Little and Alex Sherman; seventh-graders Justus Scott, Meghan Peters, Brody Rouse and Hayden Crowley; and eighth-graders Hope Parker, Sarah McGary and Kaydence Dow.
