Good Spellers Concentrate On Becoming Valley’s Best

Thu., Feb. 9, 1995

Alison Boggs Staff Writer

Know how to spell stanchion? How about epizootic?

Mind-boggling though these words may be, 14 Valley students can spell them in a flash. The students are the finalists in the 22nd annual Spokane Valley Spelling Bee.

The finalists had to defeat contenders in their own grade, then beat champions from other grades in their schools.

The championship, which is open to the public, will be held Thursdayat 7:30 p.m. at Bowdish Junior High.

All contestants are given 100-word lists ahead of time. Before the gradelevel and school-wide contests, competitors had to take written tests, then defeat others in their classrooms.

Bill Bussard, a teacher at Bowdish Junior High who is organizing this year’s event, said the list of words for the finals will be tough.

“There are some horrific words on there,” he said.

To win the semi-finals at East Valley Middle School, seventhgrader Jennifer Jenkins, defeated last year’s All-Valley champion, Charlyn Johnson, an eighth grader.

Several other younger students defeated older competitors to advance to the finals. That may be because the younger students take the competition more seriously, Bussard said.

“A lot of that is - ninth graders don’t think it’s very cool to be in a spelling bee,” he said.

Kristen Carnahan, a seventh grader at Greenacres Junior High, beat eighth and ninth graders. Chelsey Thomas, a sixth grader at St. John Vianney School, beat seventh and eighth graders.

”(Kristen) took it a lot more seriously. That obviously made a difference,” said Dave Cunningham, who coordinated Greenacres’ competition. “I’d see her in the halls and she’d say how she and her dad looked up the first 20 words.”

But Cunningham added, it was tough competition. At Greenacres, the three semi-finalists went through about 110 words, spelling more than 35 each. The contest lasted about 35 minutes.

Carnahan won her school spelling bee on the word “abyss,” Cunningham said.

Each finalist will receive a $50 U.S. savings bond, courtesy of Tidyman’s Warehouse Foods, sponsor of the event for the past four years.

The All-Valley champion will receive a $100 savings bond and a trophy, and that student’s name will be inscribed on a travelling plaque.

No other spelling bee in the Spokane region is open to private, parochial and public schools.

xxxx Spelling bee semi-finalists The following students were semi-finalists in the 22nd annual Spokane Valley Spelling Bee. Finalists advancing to Thursday’s championship are listed first for each school. Bowdish Junior High: Tom Thompson, Matt Schroeder, Krista Boller. Centennial Middle School: Melissa Cochrane, Greg Mizell, Amanda Baukol. East Valley Middle School: Jennifer Jenkins, Melissa Wilkes, Charlyn Johnson (last year’s All-Valley Champion). Evergreen Junior High: Annette Mittman, Briana Songer, Karen Adams, Rosemarie Gorka. Gospel Light Baptist School: Charity Wood. Greenacres Junior High: Kristen Carnahan, Robin Pederson, Mark Davis (finalist last year). Horizon Junior High: Brooke Bishop, Emily Culbertson, Jennifer Haynes. North Pines Junior High: John La, Monica Eschenbacher, Jessica Nichols, Chriss Mills. Spokane Christian Academy: Benji Klein (also finalist last year), Lisa Gallivan, Michael Patterson. St. John Vianney School: Chelsey Thomas, Whitney Gibbon, Wade White. St. Mary’s School: Derek Ray, Amy Harrell, Theresa Weisbeck. St. Paschal’s School: Misty Driggs, Sara Biesen. Valley Adventist School: Janelle Lile. Valley Christian School: Elizabeth Monroe, Scott Ellis, Michael Fowler.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.