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Students show talents at state spelling bee

By DALE HOGG
Great Bend Tribune

GREAT BEND - Barton County Community College's Fine Arts Auditorium was the scene of a war of words Saturday afternoon. The first-ever Great Bend Tribune Sunflower Spelling Bee pitted 69 of Kansas' best spellers from all corners of the state against one another for the chance to represent Kansas at the Scripps national spell set for May in Washington, D.C.

Cowley County's representative, Alex Trent of Arkansas City, placed 13th.

After four hours of verbal sparring, Pamela Self of an eighth grader from Fort Scott emerged as the winner, taking the title on the word frankincense.

The first runner up was Brandon Ledford, an eighth grader from Columbus, and second runner up was Clara Wikoff, a fourth grader from Iola.

"I can't believe I won," a surprised Self said after the bee. "I studied quite a bit" with help from her family and friends.

The contestants represented 404 schools from fourth through eighth grade.

This marks the first year for the Scripps National Spelling Bee qualifying event to take place in Great Bend. When the Topeka Capital-Journal dropped most of Kansas from its spell down last year, it left a lot of very bright Kansas youngsters wondering what they were going to do. The Topeka event had long been considered the state championship, but the Capitol-Journal decided to scale back what it offered.

The Tribune jumped at the chance to bring a statewide bee to town.

"This was a gratifying experience for the community and it was a gratifying experience for me personally," Tribune Publisher Mary Hoisington said.

This makes Great Bend's bee one of only three national-qualifying contests in the state. The others are Topeka and the City of Olathe, which covers only Olathe. With the exception of these two and three southwest counties which go to Amarillo, Texas, the rest of the state's spelling wiz kids were eligible to come here.

How did the event go, overall?

"I think it just went wonderfully," said Darnell Holopirek, BCCC executive director of institutional advancement. "It went just as we had hoped." She said she'd heard from participants and their family members who said they enjoyed their experience in Great Bend.

"We're looking forward to doing it again next year," Hoisington said.

According to Paige Kimble, director of the Scripps National Spelling Program, bees must be sponsored by a newspaper. When the Capitol-Journal backed out, the field was open. Enter the Tribune, and a handful of other papers, that tossed their hats in the ring.

The Tribune won out. "It's an honor to be selected to sponsor such a prestigious event," Hoisington said.

Hoisington said before applying, she'd discussed the backing of the college with President Dr. Carl Heilman.

"Given Barton's commitment to area citizens and communities and our dedication in supporting education and cultural endeavors, the decision to partner with the Great Bend Tribune was not a hard one," Heilman said.

Barton provided facility and maintenance assistance as well as volunteer support, Heilman said. College officials have named employees to coordinate with the Tribune and other volunteers.

"The Spelling Bee is nationally recognized and highly regarded," Heilman said.

Of the contestants: 36 were female and 33 were male; 32 were in eighth grade, 17 in seventh, 14 in sixth, four in fifth and two in fourth; and 62 attended public schools, four private and three parochial.

Pictured: Arkansas City's Alec Trent at the state spelling bee.