Kristin Towe, a fifth grade student at Pepperell Elementary
School, has won the District One Spelling Bee and will advance
to the state finals. The district competition was held
Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. at the Floyd County
Schools central office building. The spelling competition
featured the best spellers from area school systems and home
schools.
The academic competition lasted a grueling 12 rounds ending
with Kristin correctly spelling “siege” and “malice.” Kristin,
the 2008 spelling champion of Floyd County Schools, prepared
for the spell-offs by reading the dictionary. Her
mom Tara Towe said that the two sit on the couch with the dictionary
and practice spelling words. Kristin also credits her teacher,
Ms. Stacy Thompson, for helping her to be a good speller. She
said, “Ms. Thompson gives us really hard words and helps
us a lot with our spelling.”
Kristin displayed
a very deliberate spelling style taking her time to complete
the spelling of the word she was given in each round. It
may have seemed that she was hesitant but she had a plan. “I
was saying a lot of little prayers up there,” she said
as she explained her technique. “Some
of the words I had to work them out in my head and use my imaginary
pencil to spell them out.”
Kristin Towe
will now represent Pepperell Elementary, Floyd County Schools,
and District One in the Georgia Spelling Bee held on March
21, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at Georgia State University in Atlanta. |