HES 5th-grader wins county bee

The top three finishers at last week?s Marion County Spelling Bee were (from left) runner-up Surinda Bell from Hillsboro, champion Jessi Dalke from Hillsboro and third-place finisher Kylee Dixon from Marion.With each word, she spoke softly, spelled slowly and occasionally wrote with her finger on the palm of her other hand.

But when she spelled ?supplement? correctly, Hillsboro fifth-grader Jessi Dalke claimed the title of best speller in Marion County at the annual bee for elementary and middle school students last Wednes?day in the Hillsboro school auditorium.

Surinda Bell, a Hillsboro sixth-grader, was the runner-up and Kylee Dixon, a Marion seventh-grader, finished third.

In all, 20 students?two from each of the 10 elementary and middle schools in the county?competed on the auditorium stage.

Joining Jessi, Surinda and Kylee were Sydney Jantz, a seventh-grader at Peabody-Burns; Cassie Meyer, a sixth-grader at Marion; Logan Webster, a fourth-grader at Goessel; Chloe Burkholder, a sixth-grader at Marion; Evan Calhoun an eighth-grader at Marion; Lucas Wiens, a fourth-grader at Goessel; Elizabeth Alderfer, a sixth-grader from Goessel; Tanner Wiggins, a seventh-grader from Centre; Taryn Coon, a fourth-grader from Peabody Burns; Blake Percival, a fourth-grader from Peabody-Burns; Seth Kreh, a fifth-grader from Centre; Charlie Major, a fifth-grader from Hillsboro; Sarah Jost, an eighth-grader from Hills?boro; Ryan August, a seventh-grader from Centre; Dillon Knepp, a fifth-grader from Centre; Edel Miller a seventh-grader from Goessel; and Bradley Sulli?van, an eighth-grader from Peabody-Burns.

After a practice round with simple words, the students took their turn spelling one word each round given to them by the contest moderator, Greg Brown, HMS principal.

Four students left the stage during the first round after misspelling their words. Three more students left in Round 2. One speller was eliminated in the third round and five in the fourth round.

That left seven students remaining to battle in the championship round: Jessi, Surinda, Kylee, Evan, Eliza?beth, Charlie and Sarah.

It took three more rounds to determine a final four: Elizabeth, Surinda, Jessi and Kylee. When Elizabeth misspelled ?competitive? and Kylee stumbled on ?agricultural,? that left Jessi and Surinda to battle for the title, and Elizabeth and Kylee to face off for third place.

In the showdown for the championship, each of the two girls misspelled four consecutive words. On their fifth turn, Surinda missed ?indelible? while Jessi correctly spelled ?financier.?

Jessi Dalke writes on her palm as she deliberates the spelling of the championship word, ?supplement.? She outlasted 19 other spellers from 10 county schools to claim this year?s title.That left Jessi needing to spell the confirmation word ?supplement? for the win.

The showdown for third place took only one round. Elizabeth missed ?larynx? while Kylee correctly spelled ?patience.?

Jessi said she was nervous prior to the event, but had practiced the word list with her parents, Dale and Jana Dalke, the previous two nights.

As the Marion County champion, Jessi will represent Marion County at the Sunflower State Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 8, at the Beach Schmidt Performing Arts Center in Hays.

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