Five Carthage elementary students and one middle school student will head to Joplin on Wednesday, March 17 to participate in a regional spelling bee.
The bee, sponsored by the Joplin Globe, will be held at Taylor Auditorium on the Missouri Southern State University campus at 3 p.m. Registration will begin at 2 p.m.
Qualifying bees were held in each of Carthage’s elementary schools and in Carthage Middle School. With only one exception, the first place winners in each bee qualified to move on the MSSU’s regional bee.
The winner of Steadley Elementary’s bee, Colton Smith, was unable to attend the regional event. Competing in his place will be the second place winner, Wess Moore, 9.
The most difficult word Moore can spell also happens to be the one he misspelled in his bee: ‘encyclopedia.’
“Even though I missed it, I figured out why I missed it,” he said. “I made a slight mistake.”
Away from school, Moore likes to play video games on his Xbox 360.
Competing for Pleasant Valley Elementary is 9-year-old Kimberly Sager, a fourth grader in Mrs. Judy Hawkins’ class. Kimberly said her favorite pastime away from school was reading. Her favorite book is “Regarding the Fountain,” by Kate Klise.
Kimberly said the toughest word she can spell is ‘onomatopoeia.’
Competing for Columbia Elementary is 10-year-old Mackenzie Pritchard, a fourth grader in Mrs. Meghan Frischenmeyer’s class. Also a reader, she said her favorite book is “Found,” by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
Mackenzie’s toughest word is ‘transcontinental.’
In the first place slot for Mark Twain Elementary is John Navarrete, 9. John, who is a student in Mrs. Bridget Triplett’s fourth grade class, enjoys playing soccer and said the most difficult word he can spell is ‘consequences.’
At Fairview Elementary, the first place winner and school representative in the regional bee will be Dylan Calhoon, 10, from Mrs. Jalon Smith’s fourth grade class.
Dylan said he enjoys drawing and reading, and his favorite books are the Percy Jackson and the Olympians novels.
Dylan’s most complicated word is ‘electrodiagram.’
Representing the middle school is Carthage’s eldest bee qualifier, Zackery McDonald, 12. Zackery also enjoys reading, and is currently working on “The Fellowship of the Ring,” by J.R.R. Tolkien.
The toughest word he can spell, he said, is ‘hypochondriac.’
