AREA STARS PAST BEE'S 1ST ROUND.Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Cool and confident, Glendale eighth-grader Mariam Firunts breezed through the first round Tuesday as the Daily News representative in the National Spelling Bee spelling bee n. A contest in which competitors are eliminated as they fail to spell a given word correctly. Also called spelldown. Noun 1. . ``Upeygan'' was no match for Mariam, 14, as she spelled out the synonym synonym (sĭn`ənĭm) [Gr.,=having the same name], word having a meaning that is the same as or very similar to the meaning of another word of the same language. Some are alike in some meanings only, as live and dwell. for black rhinoceros rhinoceros, massive hoofed mammal of Africa, India, and SE Asia, characterized by a snout with one or two horns. The rhinoceros family, along with the horse and tapir families, forms the order of odd-toed hoofed mammals. and moved into today's second round of the 74th competition at Washington's Grand Hyatt Hotel. Last year, she made it to the third round. ``Experience always helps, so I feel a lot less stress than last time,'' said the star student from Toll Middle School, who warmed up by giving a final skim to a list of 3,850 words being used in the contest to begin whittling Whittling is the art of carving shapes out of raw wood with a knife. Whittling is typically performed with a light, small-bladed knife, usually a pocket knife. Specialised whittling knives are available as well. down a stellar field of 248 spellers from around the nation. In March, Mariam beat 34 other talented young San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. wordsmiths to earn her return ticket to the finals, which are sponsored by Scripps-Howard Newspapers. Also advancing Tuesday was Bethany Young, 13, of Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. , who successfully spelled ``dreidel,'' the toy spun by Jewish children during Hanukkah. Bethany, a seventh-grader and the Ventura County spelling champ, said, ``I'm having a cool time no matter what happens. I'm most looking forward to our trip on Thursday to Kings Dominion Kings Dominion is a 400 acre amusement park located in Doswell in Hanover County 23 miles (37 km) north of Richmond, Virginia and 83 miles (134 km) south of Washington, DC on Interstate 95. ,'' a Magic Mountain-style amusement park amusement park, a commercially operated park offering various forms of entertainment, such as arcade games, carousels, roller coasters, and performers, as well as food, drink, and souvenirs. in nearby Richmond, Va. Mariam, who has spent her spring winning a slew of school and statewide academic honors, including two gold medals in Latin from the Junior Classical League, credits her mother/coach with boosting her return to the finals. Her mom, Sona Hakopian, holds a doctorate in philology phi·lol·o·gy n. 1. Literary study or classical scholarship. 2. See historical linguistics. [Middle English philologie, from Latin philologia, love of learning , the science of linguistics and literature. Mariam, who made it to the third round of last year's National Spelling Bee, plans to enroll this fall in honors classes at Hoover High School Hoover High School may refer to any of the following:
Judy Young, Bethany's mom and coach, said she began entering her daughter in spelling bees to help her overcome severe shyness. ``Bethany has always been strong in spelling and this is an area where she has been able to build her self-esteem,'' she said. Young is also Bethany's home-schooling teacher under a program sponsored by Trinity Pacific School in Newbury Park. Bethany, who has always been schooled at home, has plenty of peers at the National Spelling Bee. More than 20 of this year's contestants are home-schooled and last year's top three finishers, including champion George Thampy of St. Louis, were all products of home-schooling programs. Tuesday's first-round words were drawn from a list of 3,850 mind- benders that all contestants were allowed to study in advance. Starting today and continuing through Thursday's championship finals, words will be drawn from the more than 460,000 entries in Webster's Third New International Dictionary. This year's champion will receive $10,000 in cash and sets of the Great Books of the Western World and Encyclopedia Britannica. All contestants win at least $50, plus a sponsor-paid trip to Washington and a souvenir watch. Bee week also includes tours of Washington-area landmarks and a party for contestants and their families. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Mariam Firunts, 14, of Glendale tackles all spelling challenges Tuesday at the National Spelling Bee's first round of match-ups. (2) Bethany Young Spelling Bee contestant from Thousand Oaks Dan Kim/Scripps Howard News Service |
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