Shepherd Claims Spelling TitleMENTONE - Third time was the charm Thursday night for the 2010 Kosciusko County Spelling Bee winner.
After being a runnerup in fifth and seventh grade, Tippecanoe Valley Middle School eighth-grader Elizabeth Shepherd finally won the county spelling bee grand championship.Shepherd, 14, the daughter of Scott and Lori Shepherd, said it feels "really, really good (to win). It's taken forever!"
Shepherd advances to The Journal Gazette Regional Spelling Bee March 13 in Fort Wayne. The winner of the regional bee then advances to the national Scripps Howard Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
But Shepherd's win Thursday night did not come quickly. She had to go 51 rounds in the seventh- and eighth-grade division first before going another seven rounds in the grand championship competition.
In the championship spelling bee, Shepherd faced Eisenhower Elementary School sixth-grader Cassandra "Andie" Zeigler. Zeigler won the fifth- and sixth-grade division spelling bee Tuesday night against Kollin Bell, North Webster Elementary School.
Cassandra Zeigler, the daughter of Ty and Paula Zeigler, had a little extra mojo going for her. Her mother was the elementary division spelling bee winner in 1976. A student at Washington Elementary School at the time, Paula Calhan had lost to a student from Milford in the championship round.
Like mother, like daughter, Cassandra Zeigler lost this year in the championship round. After Shepherd correctly spelled her word, Zeigler misspelled "peloton" in the sixth round. Shepherd then correctly spelled "hedonism" in round seven for the win.
In the middle school division spelling bee prior to the championship round Thursday, it was down to Shepherd and Edgewood Middle School's Loren Railsback by the end of round 21.
Loren, 13, is the son of Cheryl and Ramsey Railsback.
For each word, Shepherd spelled her word on the palm of her hand as she spelled it out loud. Railsback would often ask for other pronunciations of the word, the word origin or for it to be used in a sentence.
The tricks helped both students until Railsback misspelled "eclectic" in round 50. Shepherd then correctly spelled "koan" for the win in round 51.
The winners of the two grade division bees - Zeigler and Shepherd this year - each received a $2,500 Richard R. Long Scholarship. The scholarship is given in recognition of Long's many years of service to the children, teachers, parents of North Webster School and in honor of his work for the International Palace of Sports, now known as the Shoop Sports and Youth Foundation. The Shoop Foundation funds the spelling bee scholarships to help provide future higher education for the spelling bee winners.
Along with Shepherd, the other contestants in the middle school division spelling bee were: Chelsea Carolus, Milford School; JD French, Lakeview Middle School; Railsback; and Sam Rookstool, Wawasee Middle School.
The pronuncer for the spelling bee Tuesday and Thursday nights was Susan Eller. Judges Thursday night were Doris Lemert, Susan Walker and Kristen Horrell. The organizer for this year's competition was Akron Elementary School Principal Blaine Conley.
Co-sponsors of the spelling bee are Kosciusko REMC and Grace College.
