SPELLING WHIZ WINS ANNUAL WAR OF WORDS.Byline: Greg Gittrich Daily News Staff Writer After nearly three hours of mental wrestling with oddities of the English language English language, member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations. , the battle to be named the Daily News Regional Spelling Bee champion Saturday came down to a noisy insect, Arabian incense and the special rights granted to only a few. Thirty-one students from around the 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. had gathered on the auditorium stage at Taft High School in Woodland Hills to rack their brains with the likes of when I comes before E. But only 13 rounds later, Michael Yeranosian of AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School is an Armenian-American private school located in Winnetka, Los Angeles, California, USA. It is financed and run by the Armenian General Benevolent Union. With 947 students, it is the largest Armenian private school in the Greater Los Angeles area. in Canoga Park carefully spelled ``frankincense'' and then ``privileges'' to eek out a win over Raymond Ople of Holy Family Elementary School Holy Family Elementary School is a Catholic School within the Archdiocese of Louisville. • • [ in Glendale. Raymond, 13, was tripped up in the final round by the word ``cicada cicada (sĭkā`də), large, noise-producing insect of the order Homoptera, with a stout body, a wide, blunt head, protruding eyes, and two pairs of membranous wings. .'' ``The past two days I studied for more than 12 hours,'' said Michael, who walked away with a trip for two to the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Championship in Washington, D.C. ``I'm excited to go to Washington and compete in the nationals,'' the 13-year-old spelling wizard added, staring at the gold medal swinging from his neck. ``I've never been to Washington. Never.'' The pressure throughout the academic event was intense. By round 12, only four students remained seated on the auditorium stage, having seen several of their stressed-out opponents fall into tears after misspelling mis·spell·ing n. 1. The act or an instance of spelling incorrectly. 2. A word spelled incorrectly. Noun 1. a word. Michael's mother, Liz, and dozens of other parents held their breath in the audience as pronouncer Dr. Harlan M. Barbanell posed word after word to the young spellers - ``husbandry,'' ``clodhopper,'' ``pedantic pe·dan·tic adj. Characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book learning and formal rules: a pedantic attention to details. ,'' ``regurgitate re·gur·gi·tate v. 1. To rush or surge back. 2. To cause to pour back, especially to cast up partially digested food. re·gur .'' Rocking back and forth in anxiety and stammering stammering: see stuttering. at times, each contestant received a separate word to spell, often asking the pronouncer to repeat the word, use it in a sentence, and give them the definition. As the students spoke into the microphone - careful letter by careful letter - their moms and dads mumbled from the audience and prayed not to hear the ring of a small, cruel bell that judges used to signal a flubbed word. ``I was nervous. I think everyone was,'' Michael said, downplaying his victory like a true good sport. ``I worked hard, and I knew I could do it. But there's a lot of luck involved. It depends a lot on which words you get.'' Unlike last year, the participants were not asked to correct the misspellings of other students, and in the final round, the rules required the last participant to spell two words consecutively to win. The Daily News Regional Spelling Bee was open to all seventh- and eighth-graders enrolled in public and private schools throughout the newspaper's circulation market. The contest followed the rules of the National Scripps-Howard Spelling Bee, which will be held June 2-3 in Washington, D.C. CAPTION(S): 4 Photos PHOTO (1--Color) YERANOSIAN (2--3) Jennifer Hernandez of Luther Burbank School, above, spells out a word at the Daily News Regional Spelling Bee at Taft High School in Woodland Hills on Saturday. At right, Raymond Ople, 13, of Holy Family Elementary School in Glendale was tripped up in the final round by the word ``cicada.'' (4) Winner Michael Yeranosian, 13, gets a kiss from his mother. Michael Owen Baker/Daily News |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion