Welches sixth grader Madison Bowling put in a lot of practice time with her
dad before the school’s second annual spelling bee, held Wednesday, Feb. 11
(sponsored by the district’s Talented and Gifted Program).

During her preparation, one word was a little problematic: jettison, which
Bowling spelled “j-e-d-i-s-o-n” on her first attempt, so she gave it a little
more attention and work to get it down right.

When the competition arrived, featuring 16 of the best spellers Welches
School has to offer, Bowling found herself going for the victory with just one
word to spell.

“She said ‘jettison’ and I thought, ‘Oh yeah, I got this,’” said Bowling, who
was the runner up in last year’s bee.

Now Bowling will get to prepare for the Portland spelling bee on Saturday,
March 7, with a chance to go to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

“I’m feeling nervous, definitely, but I’m really excited,” Bowling said.

Fourth grader Denali Barrett placed second, failing to correctly spell
“modicum,” but she’s already got a plan in place for next year’s bee.

“Practice a little better on all the words,” Barrett said.

Last year’s winner from Welches, Savannah DiMicoli, bowed out earlier in the
competition after missing out on “credulity.”

But DiMicoli did offer some advice to the new school champ about the Portland
competition, including trying to make friends with some of the other spellers.

“They seem really intimidating but I actually made friends there,” DiMicoli
said. “It’s scary. There’s a ton of old people and they’re all really quiet and
they’re staring at you. It’s really nerve wracking; just don’t go too fast.”

Welches Principal Kendra Payne noted the competition brings academic skills
to the forefront like sports does for physical skills.

She added that the student body also gets to practice appropriate audience
behavior during the bee and that the preparation for the bee helps bring
together students from all grade levels.

“I really like that it becomes a collective experience for our kids since they all
take the same version of the final test,” Payne wrote in an email to The
Mountain Times. “In the week before, I overheard kids who didn’t compete in
the final Spelling Bee talking about the words and comparing their results.”