Ashland student outspells competitors

Ashland student outspells competitors

Staff photo/Jon Gulliver

    CHAMPION SPELLER — Benjamin Philbrook, an eighth grader at Ashland District School, recently won the Aroostook County Spelling Bee. He now moves on to the Maine State Spelling Bee, which will be held on Saturday, March 17 at the University of Southern Maine.

By Jon Gulliver

    ASHLAND — An Ashland District School eighth-grader killed the competition at the Aroostook County Spelling Bee, held recently at the University of Maine Fort Kent, by correctly spelling the work “morgue.”
    In his third trip to the County finals, Benjamin Philbrook captured the crown by topping 22 other spellers.
    The runner-up was Sarah Harris of Wisdom Middle School who missed the word “gondola.” Caribou’s Ashton Beaver and Houlton’s Natalie Hill tied for third. Beaver was ousted on “hosta” and Hill on “Crusoe.”
    Philbrook, whose favorite subjects are math and English, said he usually does pretty well on spelling tests and wasn’t nervous at all during the competition.
    “I’ve been there a few times before, so I knew what to expect,” he said.
    Philbrook, and the other top finishers, will next take part in the State Bee held at the University of Southern Maine’s Hannaford Hall on Saturday, March 17 at 2 p.m.
    Philbrook said he will be studying up before the State Bee.
    “I have a list of words, like a few thousand, to study up until the Bee,” he said. “Most of the spellings come to me pretty quickly, but there are a few I still have a hard time with.”
    Looking past middle school and high school Philbrook said he wants to go to college.