ASHLAND, MAINE — After 42 rounds of true competition, and 22 of them with only two spellers, Ashland’s eighth-grader Brady Holmes was declared the winner of the 2017 Aroostook County Spelling Bee on February 2.
The bee was held at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, with 18 area school champions from grades 5 through 8.
Holmes won the bee with the word “diagnosis”. In the final round with runner-up Justin Pelletier of Madawaska, he spelled “ambiguity” correctly.
“I had a lot of fun,” he said. “My teacher and my sister helped me the most to get ready.”
Eighth-grader Brady Holmes of Ashland is this year’s Aroostook County spelling champion following the bee on Feb. 2, and will head to the state competition on March 25. (Contributed photo)
Since the County bee, Holmes has been studying words from many languages — German, Asian and French words, along with Japanese, Italian and Spanish, to name some.
“I just study, and study, and study,” Holmes said.
The son of Preston and Kimberly Holmes, he will compete in the Maine State Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 25, at the University of Southern Maine.
His English teacher, Ms. Brewer, said, “Brady absorbs words like a sponge. He doesn’t need to see them to store them in memory. I am very impressed with his ambition, and his new knowledge of word origins and their spelling rules.”
About the upcoming state bee, Holmes said, “I’m excited, but I’m also very nervous.”
Having spelled words like “au fait,” “diorama,” “undulating” and “pterodactyl” in front of a County audience and competitors, he said, “It’s changed my confidence, and has shown me that if I work hard enough at something, I can do it.”
