The winning word was “ridiculous,” much like the other words featured in the Alachua County Public Schools District Spelling Bee.
Nervous students and more-stressed family members filled the Kirby-Smith Administration Center Wednesday afternoon for the spelling bee.
The contest featured 39 participants ranging from fifth- to eighth-graders from 35 elementary and middle schools in Alachua County.
Onlookers learned definitions and language origins of words varying from “desperado” to “keelhaul,” words seemingly fit for an SAT vocabulary book. But it was contestant 31, seventh-grader Emma Porter from Oak View Middle School, who will represent Alachua County at the state spelling competition.
Porter, who is “12 and a half,” said she studied for 15 hours for Wednesday’s competition since she won for Oak View Middle School in early December.
Her youth leader, Sarah Higgins, 24, helped her study, although Higgins claimed that it was mainly Porter quizzing her on vocabulary.
After 22 rounds and 37 contestants eliminated, Aleandra Ro of Oak Hall School lost to Porter when she misspelled “regatta.”
After winning, Porter celebrated with her family and mentor and exclaimed:
“I can’t wait to tell my softball team!”
Porter will go on to the 69th Florida Times-Union Regional Spelling Bee in Jacksonville Feb. 16.
The winner also received prizes from local vendors, including a five-day trip to Camp Crystal Lake.
The spelling words came from the Scripps National Spelling Bee word list, said event coordinator Isabel Carter.
This was Carter’s second year organizing the competition.
“This year was different,” she said. “We are glad that a student within the public school district won this year. It has usually been homeschoolers.”
The final four contestants were equally split between private and public school students.
Jenny Bunn, Carter’s secretary, said this year brought an increased response in sponsors from last year, which was the first year the event was sponsored.
Businesses, such as Barnes & Noble, Conestogas Restaurant and Camp Crystal Lake, donated prizes to the contestants.
“Every kid is entitled to a reward,” Bunn said.
Seventh-grader Emma Porter, 12, spells the winning word during the 23rd round of the 2013 Alachua County Public Schools District Spelling Bee.
