From “jet” to “tachycardia”: Niwot students catch the buzz for spelling bee

Ten Niwot Elementary students sat up straight in their chairs, all eyes on three teachers seated at a small table in front of them.

Eva Kitlen, 5th grade, learns that she correctly spelled her word and is the winner of the spelling bee at Niwot Elementary in Niwot on Jan. 27. Lindsay J. C. Lack photo

“The word is jet,” music teacher Jenna Olshlager said.

“J-e-t,” spelled Nikhil Kumar.

“That is correct,” Olshlager said, as Kumar happily sat down again.

That Jan. 27 competition kicked off Niwot Elementary’s first official school spelling bee, held as the first step for students to participate in the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee competition.

“We thought this would be a really wonderful opportunity for our students to learn about words and show their spelling skills to our community,” said Principal Mike Keppler. “All the students taking part really put in some hard work for this bee.”

The National Spelling Bee was begun in 1925, with nine students participating in the first national finals. Scripps took over the spelling bee in 1942, but suspended it from 1943 to 1945 during World War II.

Since its inception, the bee has grown to include participants from public, private, and charter schools, along with home-schooled students. More than 11 million students are expected to be involved in the national spelling bee process this year.

Of the 85 National Spelling Bee champions, 44 have been girls and 41 have been boys. Co-champions were declared in1950, 1957 and 1962.

The national spelling bee is open to students enrolled in fourth through eighth grades, although younger students can participate in local contests.

About 65 students in third, fourth and fifth grades took three qualifying tests the week before the Niwot Elementary spelling bee to determine who would be the final 10 spellers to compete. Each test eliminated students until the remaining 10 – all fourth and fifth graders – were chosen to take part in last week’s event held in front of an audience of their peers and parents.

The Niwot Elementary participants included Robert Hardwick, Conner Mikel, Jesse Souci, Dylan Light, Izzy Sheehan, Eva Kitlen, Peter LeCavalier, Erica Landreth, Hayden Arens and Kumar.

Teachers and parents gave words of encouragement and “high-fives” to students before the Niwot Elementary bee started.

“We are all pretty excited about this,” said fourth-grade teacher Jennifer Tagley.

Participant Robert Hardwick got up early to study the day of the bee, but “really didn’t seem to worry too much about it,” Mary Hardwick, Robert’s mother, said before the start of the meet.

“He seems to be taking it all in stride,” Andy, his dad, added.

Sunil Kumar, father of Nikhil, said his son had been studying for the last three or four days. “He went through his study list with us when he had the chance,” he said.

The first round of words were “a little easier” so that the students could “get into the groove,” Olshlager said after the round ended.

But then the competition ratcheted up.

Spelling words such as “article,” “affiliation,” and “quarantine” proved too hard for some of the spellers. But others made it through “centennial,” “labyrinth,” “conundrum” and “psychoanalysis.”

By round 13, two competitors – fifth-grader Eva Kitlen and fourth-grader Robert Hardwick – were left. Hardwick misspelled “crucible,” and then it was left to Kitlen to spell a final word correctly.

“T-a-c-h-y-c-a-r-d-i-a,” she spelled.

The audience erupted into cheers and applause, with fifth grade students chanting “Eva, Eva, Eva,” and classmates running up to Kitlen to give her hugs. A beaming Kitlen, who said she had been “so nervous I was shaking” during the bee, looked happy and very relieved at the same time.

“I memorized those words and studied at least half an hour every night,” Kitlen said. “I practiced a lot with my Mom.”

“She worked really hard for this,” said mom Sheila Kitlen. “And now we get to continue the studying.”

Memorizing words to win will be impossible for the national contest, and perhaps even the regional contest. The national bee’s official dictionary from Merriam Webster — “Webster’s Third New International Dictionary” and its addenda section —has more than 472,000 word entries.

But here’s a tip from the national spelling bee Web site – the French word “connoisseur” has been the most frequently used word on Scripps National Spelling Bee word lists.

Eva’s win advances her to the Daily Camera regional spelling bee, which will be held Feb. 20 at Monarch High School in Louisville.

The winner of the regional bee will compete with other regional winners in the Denver Post’s 70th annual Colorado State Spelling Bee on March 6 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. The winner of that contest will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to compete in the 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee, to be held June 3 in Washington D.C.

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net