Who could have scripted it?
Self-confessed book junkie Morgan Apostle, a seventh-grader at Sonoma Country Day School, was handed ?bibliophile? as the final word in the Sonoma County Junior High Spelling Bee Tuesday and nailed it.
?I have known that word for a really long time,? she said, holding her first-place trophy after the competition.
Apostle and second-place finisher Melody Kosik, a seventh-grader from Rincon Valley Middle School, advance to the California State Junior High Spelling Championship on May 9 in San Rafael.
It was a comeback of sorts. Just minutes earlier, Apostle could have sealed the win with a correct spelling of ?vichyssoise? but couldn?t stifle a laugh when the word was read to her.
She asked for definition.
?Potato cream soup with leeks, usually served cold,? said Patricia Ehrmann, a Rancho Cotate High School teacher who served as spell master at the competition.
Apostle erred and the competition between she and Kosik went on.
Tuesday?s competition at the Sonoma County Office of Education complex in Santa Rosa pitted 38 seventh- and eighth-grade school champs from around the county against one another, doing battle over words such as ?irascible? and ?valetudinarian.?
?I can?t even remember what the word was,? said Kosik, who nonetheless successfully spelled valetudinarian ? a person in poor health; an invalid.
?It?s really nerve-racking,? Kosik said of spelling words into a microphone in front of a standing-room-only conference-room crowd. ?You think they are focused on you so much.?
Apostle, who said she didn?t study much beyond her usual voracious appetite for reading, said the two-hour competition was a test of nerves.
?My legs felt like they were going to fall off,? she said. ?I don?t think my heart has ever pounded so much.?
?I wouldn?t say she studies for the spelling bees,? said Apostle?s mom, Laura. ?I think if she sees (words), they can recall them.?
Laura Apostle laughed when asked if she can spell some of the words her daughter successfully navigated Tuesday.
?No way,? she said.
The final four also included Roger Martinez, a spelling whiz from Washington School in Cloverdale, who would have won the prize for fastest speller if that was a category Tuesday.
The eighth-grader ripped off every word he was handed with amazing speed, until he was tripped up in the fifth round.
The fourth finalist was Antony Yi, an eighth-grader from Windsor Christian Academy.
Sonoma County has held a middle/junior high school spelling bee for more than a quarter century. County schools chief Carl Wong was quick to point out that the 38 competitors beat out about 11,000 of their peers to earn a spot at the event.
?We have the very best spellers here,? he said. ?They won?t get a lot of money, this is not ?Slumdog Millionaire.?
In addition to earning a spot in the state bee, Apostle won a trophy and a $250 savings bond. Kosik also earned a trip to San Rafael in May and took home a $175 savings bond.
Staff Writer Kerry Benefield writes an education blog at extracredit.pressdemocrat.com. She can be reached at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@ pressdemocrat.com.
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