Durgin Spells 'Terraqueous' To Win Elementary Bee
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
In the end it was a word almost no one had heard of that won the elementary spelling bee contest for an Eisenhower Elementary fifth-grader.
After seven rounds and almost an hour of competing, Bryce Durgin stepped to the microphone Monday night at First United Methodist Church and, without hesitation, correctly spelled "terraqueous."
Durgin, 10, looking slightly stunned after the bee, said he broke the word down to "terra" and "aqueous" and, since he knew those words, it wasn't that difficult.
Twenty-three students from elementary schools all over the county competed in Monday's bee, which started with words such as "bonus" and "tornado."
But round two reduced the ranks of the spellers by more than half, losing 12 students to words like "exemplary," "tenacious" and "integral."
Round three was even more difficult, and by round four, only five spellers were left.
J.W. Crace, 11, fifth-grader from Burket, lost to "arduous"; Kristen Ziegler, 11, fifth-grader at North Webster, misspelled "ludicrous"; and Alex VanDuyne, 11, fifth-grader at Washington Elementary, lost with "cosmetologist."
Finally, in round five, it was just the final two: Durgin and Kyle Brown, 12, a sixth-grader from Tippecanoe Valley Middle School.
In the next three rounds, Durgin correctly spelled "traumatic," "imperceptible" and "unprecedented."
Brown aced "grievous" and "unrequited," but misspelled "disconsolate."
Durgin correctly spelled the word Brown missed, then spelled "terraqueous" (defined as "consisting of land and water") to win the bee.
Durgin's job isn't over yet, though. Tonight at 7 p.m., again at First United Methodist Church, the middle-school spellers will compete. Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Warsaw Community Schools' administration building, Durgin and tonight's finalist will meet for the title of county champion.
Wednesday's contest will be broadcast live on WRSW radio.
Durgin is the son of Susan and Robert Durgin of Winona Lake. Brown is the son of Teresa and Jeff Brown of Mentone.
Dr. Paulette Sauders, professor of English and journalism at Grace College, was the pronouncer for the spelling bee. [[In-content Ad]]
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In the end it was a word almost no one had heard of that won the elementary spelling bee contest for an Eisenhower Elementary fifth-grader.
After seven rounds and almost an hour of competing, Bryce Durgin stepped to the microphone Monday night at First United Methodist Church and, without hesitation, correctly spelled "terraqueous."
Durgin, 10, looking slightly stunned after the bee, said he broke the word down to "terra" and "aqueous" and, since he knew those words, it wasn't that difficult.
Twenty-three students from elementary schools all over the county competed in Monday's bee, which started with words such as "bonus" and "tornado."
But round two reduced the ranks of the spellers by more than half, losing 12 students to words like "exemplary," "tenacious" and "integral."
Round three was even more difficult, and by round four, only five spellers were left.
J.W. Crace, 11, fifth-grader from Burket, lost to "arduous"; Kristen Ziegler, 11, fifth-grader at North Webster, misspelled "ludicrous"; and Alex VanDuyne, 11, fifth-grader at Washington Elementary, lost with "cosmetologist."
Finally, in round five, it was just the final two: Durgin and Kyle Brown, 12, a sixth-grader from Tippecanoe Valley Middle School.
In the next three rounds, Durgin correctly spelled "traumatic," "imperceptible" and "unprecedented."
Brown aced "grievous" and "unrequited," but misspelled "disconsolate."
Durgin correctly spelled the word Brown missed, then spelled "terraqueous" (defined as "consisting of land and water") to win the bee.
Durgin's job isn't over yet, though. Tonight at 7 p.m., again at First United Methodist Church, the middle-school spellers will compete. Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Warsaw Community Schools' administration building, Durgin and tonight's finalist will meet for the title of county champion.
Wednesday's contest will be broadcast live on WRSW radio.
Durgin is the son of Susan and Robert Durgin of Winona Lake. Brown is the son of Teresa and Jeff Brown of Mentone.
Dr. Paulette Sauders, professor of English and journalism at Grace College, was the pronouncer for the spelling bee. [[In-content Ad]]