March 12, the NEHS held its second annual spelling bee. The staff, returning from their victory last year, were ready to take on the Academic Team and the NEHS team.
The competitors for the Academic team included Erik Chapman, Katie Gallagher, Alexander Peterson, Patrick Dougherty, and Ricky Smith. They challenged the NEHS members, including Sara Kubik, Rachael Hockenberry, Bridget Dolan, and Camille Nelson. (Technically, both student teams were made up of Academic team members.)
The Master of Ceremony was Mr. Jeremy Brown, assisted by Annee Lyons, NEHS Historian. The audience was amazed by Brown’s seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of spelling bee rules. He encouraged the contestants to ask for the pronunciation, language of origin and definition.
The first round was the individual team round: each group was asked to spell three words. The score was nearly even at the end of that round, 4-4-3. The Academic team trailed only because they misheard Brown’s pronunciation of a word.
The second round was a buzzer round, with the first team to buzz in and spell the word correctly receiving points. The Academic team’s experience in this format put them in position to take the lead; however, the staff team surged ahead of the student competitors with especially impressive displays of spelling prowess by Mr. Lake and Mr. McWilliams.
The third round was a sudden death round in which all previous scores became meaningless. Once a team incorrectly spelled a word it was disqualified. The NEHS team was the first to fall, and the Academic team followed soon after. The staff remains the reigning champions of the NEHS spelling bee. Each member was awarded a medal.
The third annual challenge is just 12 months away–start practicing.
