Seventh-grader Kaliana Xayaphonesongkham wins with ‘nigh’
Nine rounds, and 137 words later (including examples such as pastel, empower, scorpion, podium, joust, gorgon, genetic, talisman, duplicity, vivacious, expunge, bulwark and pontiff), Butterfield-Odin Public High School (B-OHS) had crowned its schoool’s second-annual Scripps Howarad National Spelling Bee champion. Seventh-grader Kaliana Xayaphonesongkham spelled the word “nigh” correctly to win the local Bee. In second place was eighth-grader Jorge Herrera, with another eighth-grader, Charlotte Fast, finishing in third. Last year’s champ in the school’s inaugural Bee was Julie Saunders, then a seventh-grader.
Students in grades seven and eight participated in the Bee, held Friday afternoon, January 17, in the school’s big gym. The pronouncer was Dawn Johnson, high school English teacher, with Nathan Fast, high school English and ESL (English as a Second Language) instructor, serving as judge.
As first-place winner, Kaliana received $75, while Jorge in second-place earned $50 and Charlotte, third-place speller, was presented with $25. All of the prizes were awarded by Butterfield-Odin Public School Principal Barry Schmidt.
Kaliana moves on to the Regional Spelling Bee, to be held in the Conference Center at South Central College in North Mankato on Tuesday, February 18. The winner of the Regional Spelling Bee advances to the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D. C., traditionally held during the first week of June.
Seventh-grade participants included: Devon Aguilar, Danny Sanchez, Aracely Anaya, Haley Arreola, Noemi Castaneda, Kylie Fisch, Gabriel Forstrom, Peyton Hanson, Madyson Heffele, Cody Kaehler, Jordan Keldenich, Alex Knickrehm, Michael Nett, Benjamin Rodriguez, Ethan Sykes, Noah Wolle and Kaliana Xayaphonesongkham.
Eighth-graders participating were: Edain Archibald, Drew Busswitz, Jesse Cornejo, Charlotte Fast, Evan Hanson, Jorge Herrera, Aidan Hiebert, Mercedes Lenning, Micala Lowe, Abigail McDaniel, Jacklin Oviedo, Jaqueline Perez, Lukas Pierson, Anthony Rodriguez, Julie Saunders, Raeann Shaw and Dalton Wolle.
In addition to the winning trio of spellers, a number of additional awards were presented. Ethan Sykes and Micala Lowe were recognized with “Spirit Awards,” and Devon Aguilar and Abigail McDaniel received “Sportsmanship Awards.” Charlotte Fast was given the “Most Improved Award.”
All Bee participants received a certificate and a small prize.
Classroom winners for elementary grades 3-6 were also recognized. Each was awarded a small prize. Third-grade winner was Lexia Sykes, Marvin Sengsouvanh was the fourth-grade’s top speller, Austin Knickrehm was the top speller in fifth-grade and Jennifer Perez was the champ speller in sixth-grade.
All participating spellers added a special “2014 Spelling Bee” T-shirt to their wardrobe, designed by Nathan Mathistad of NAM Designs of Butterfield.
