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After one hour and more than three dozen spelling words, the final two Kosciusko County elementary spelling champions went head-to-head on "grandeur."
Joel Meister, of Triton Elementary, misspelled the word. Stephanie Henning, of HELPS Homeschool, spelled it correctly, and went on to spell "requisition" accurately, winning her the county elementary championship. Meister is the runner-up.
The county spelling bee for elementary students took place Tuesday at Lakeview Middle School, with 22 fifth- and sixth-grade students competing.
"Take a look at the students on this stage - you are looking at the top 22 elementary spellers in Kosciusko County," said Shannun Reed, 2002 spelling bee coordinator.
The first round took out approximately half of the competitors, who missed such words as "pagan," "correspond," "acrostic" and "liniment."
Round two took out seven more students on words like "tinge," "impel," "interference" and "epicycle."
Three rounds later, Henning walked away with the first-place trophy.
The middle school spelling bee is at 7 p.m. tonight at Lakeview Middle School auditorium, and Henning and the middle school winner will face off Thursday at the same time and place for the county championship.
Henning and the middle school winner also will receive scholarships from the Homer Shoop Foundation.
Judges for Tuesday's bee were Caroline Nye, Tina Wuthrich and Carol Vosberg, and the pronouncer was Dr. Paulette Sauders.
