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Fifth graders take top honors at Westside Elementary spelling bee

Maybe they'll want to study just a little more in the next three weeks.

While Audrie Shead and La Keisha Shields cruised through the early rounds at the Westside Elementary School Spelling Bee, they both struggled once they were the only two left.

Luckily, as long as they both spelled a word wrong, they both remained.

In the end, Shead correctly spelled synthetic and innocent to take first.

But to be fair to Shead and Shields, the words got much harder once they were the only ones left. They each missed alibi, chisel, sapphire, rhythm and gorgeous - not easy words for your average third, fourth or fifth-grader.

Shead, Shields and third-place finisher Luis Hernandez now must prepare for the Crawford County Spelling bee, scheduled for Feb. 24 in Girard. All of the top three finishers at the Westside bee were fifth graders.

Shead, Shields and fourth-place finisher Elizabeth Willis, who is the alternate in case any of the top three finishers can't go, were all quite proud of their innovative way of preparing for the contest.

"I didn't study much," Shead said.

"Neither did I," said Shields.

"Me either," said Willis.

As for Hernandez, his approach was a little different, after finishing fifth at last year's bee and coming up just shy of going to county.

"I just studied from the list," he said. "I had my sister help me some."

Shead, Shields and Hernandez will all be first-timers at the county bee.

Shead said she got around 20th last year and Shields didn't remember how she did.

What a difference a year makes.

They all had their range of feelings throughout the spelling bee.

"I was embarrassed," Shields said, referring to her struggles on the tougher words.

Embarrassed or not, Shields will get an opportunity 67 of her fellow classmates won't this year.

"My stomach hurt and I felt dizzy," Willis said.

But she also admitted later that "it feels pretty good; I didn't think I would get this far."

The Morning Sun, (www.morningsun.net) February 7, 2006