On March 9, members of the academic team, National English Honor Society (NEHS), and staff competed in the fourth annual spelling bee.  All three teams struggled to spell the very difficult words chosen by Mr. Jeremy Brown, the afternoon’s spelling bee Master of Ceremony.

The academic team members that competed included JD Ensor, Hugh Norko, and Leigh Rankin. NEHS members included Sam Buckman, Olivia DuBro, and Cassie Harris. The participating staff members include Ms.Cassidy, Mr.Khene, Mr.McWilliams, and Ms.Murphy.

The words ranged from “rechauffe”-a dish of warmed up food left over from a previous meal,  to “piolet”- an ice axe.

The event was organized by Ryan Stark, senior and president of the National English Honor Society.  A small audience enjoyed the event, even taking out paper and pencil to try to spell the words as the teams were competing.

The competition consisted of two rounds, as well as a tie breaker. In the first round, each team was given five words and had to spell them. Each correct word earned that team a point. In the second round, there was a total of ten words and the teams had to buzz in, earning a point for every correct answer and losing a point for every incorrect answer.

Hugh Norko, a senior and three year member of the academic team, said, “I think the spelling bee is a fun activity students should participate in next year.”

In the final round, the academic team and staff were caught in a tie, broken when the academic team failed to spell “Beethovenian” ( of or relating to Ludwig Van Beethoven). The staff pulled another victory, with the word “Bunyanesque” (meaning of or relating to, or resembling the legends about Paul Bunyan).