Home schooled 6th-grader champion speller
Sixth-grader Rachel Pinkerton of Coeur d’Alene outspelled 45 other fourth- through eighth-graders from the five North Idaho counties of Idaho to become the champion speller in the third annual North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee March 18 at North Idaho College.
Pinkerton, a 10-year-old home school student, received a Merriam Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, a Samuel Louis Sugarman $100 savings bond, a plaque courtesy of Hagadone Newspapers and a paid trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the 79th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee May 31 and June 1.
The runner-up in the regional bee was Jennifer Kiesewetter, a seventh-grader from Holy Family Catholic School in Coeur d’Alene. She won at her grade level in a districtwide competition that included other private schools to earn the chance to participate in the regional bee. Kiesewetter received a dictionary and thesaurus and a plaque.
Third place went to eighth-grader Shayne Hamilton from Boundary County Middle School.
Seventh-grader Finan Adamson from Sandpoint Middle School earned fourth place. Both third- and fourth-place winners earned $20 Amazon.com gift certificates.
Each of the 46 participants received medals sponsored by Hagadone Newspapers.
Kiesewetter, Hamilton and Adamson were all return competitors from the 2005 North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee.
In the sixth round of the bee, Pinkerton corrected Kiesewetter’s misspelling of “endostracum,” the inner layer of a shell or crustacean, and then correctly spelled “stygian,” meaning a characteristic of death, to win the competition.
The event was sponsored by Hagadone Newspapers and hosted by NIC.
North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee placings were as follows:
First place: Rachel Pinkerton, sixth grade, home school, Coeur d’Alene.
Second place: Jennifer Kiesewetter, seventh grade, Holy Family Catholic School.
Third place: Shayne Hamilton, eighth grade, Boundary County Middle School.
Fourth place: Finan Adamson, seventh grade, Sandpoint Middle School.
Fifth place: Alex Carey, seventh grade, Post Falls Middle School; Christian Handy, seventh, Priest River Junior High; Megan Hom, eighth, Timberlake Jr./Sr. High; Calista Gresick, sixth, Priest River Elementary.
Sixth place: Shaynie Oksness, fifth grade, Atlas Elementary; Tommy Jacobs, eighth, Sandpoint Middle School; Anna Reed, eighth, Priest River Junior High; Brendan Foster, eighth, Lighthouse Christian; Capria Rinaldi, fifth, Post Falls Christian; Abigail Anderson, sixth, Coeur d’Alene Charter; Jessica Brock, seventh, Canfield Middle School; Preston Goodall, sixth, Post Falls Christian; Autumn Weppner, fifth, home school, Coeur d’Alene; Claire Wardian, fourth, Fernan Elementary; Jordan O’Masters, eighth, Canfield Middle School.
Seventh place: LeeAnne Bixler, fourth grade, home school, Coeur d’Alene; Jackson Olin, sixth, Farmin-Stidwell Elementary; Mona Ali, eighth, River City Middle School; Emily Vester, seventh, Wallace Jr./Sr. High; Emily Irvin, sixth, River City Middle School; Liz Short, fourth, Heyburn Elementary; Tyler Stout, sixth, Kellogg Middle School; Timothy Young, fifth, Spirit Lake Elementary; Katie Miller, fifth, Southside Elementary; James Barbieri, seventh, home school, Dalton Gardens; Kyrstin Vens, eighth, home school, Spirit Lake; Lizzy Branson, fourth, Farmin-Stidwell Elementary; Justin McCabe, fourth, Ponderosa Elementary; Jailee Foster, fourth, Valley View Elementary.
Eighth place: Scott French, fifth grade, Priest River Elementary; Katelynn Wuolle, fifth, Canyon Elementary; Haily Simonsen, fifth, Harrison Elementary; Jessica Hart, fifth, Valley View Elementary; Calvin “CJ” Miller, fifth, Mullan Trail Elementary; Lindsay Barrett, fourth, Betty Kiefer Elementary; Abbey Huggler, fourth, Idaho Hill Elementary; Riley Toews, fourth, Sunnyside Elementary; Brandon Carman, sixth, Harrison Elementary; Cassidy Walters, fifth, Heyburn Elementary; Jessica Brown, sixth, Spirit Lake Elementary; Tammy Watson, seventh, Timberlake Jr./Sr. High; Will Kennedy, fourth, Holy Family Catholic School.