Blake wins intense SAD 29 Spelling Bee

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Elna Seabrooks
SUPERB SPELLERS — Jennah Blake, far right, won the 2011 SAD 29 Spelling Bee. With her are runner-up Sam Astle and the pronouncer for the competition LaDericka Sewell, who teaches eighth-grade English at Houlton Junior and Senior High School.
By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — It took 87 words, 23 rounds and about one hour to whittle down 15 contenders to one winner and one runner-up in the 2011 SAD 29 Spelling Bee last Wednesday.
    Amid gasps, cheers and applause throughout the competition, one-by-one, students left the stage until there were only two left in the eighth round — Jennah Blake, the sixth-grader, and Sam Astle, the eighth-grader. At that point, LaDericka Sewell, the Bee pronouncer, uttered the fate-filled words to the packed auditorium: “You are looking at a champion and a runner-up.”
    It took another 15 rounds to determine the outcome. Back and forth they went conquering words like exoskeleton, thespian, grievance, abracadabra and unanimous. Missteps on indomitable, prejudice, aborigine and concomitant sent the championship into overdrive.
    Finally, after correctly spelling zigzaggedness, Jennah watched as Sam misspelled lugubrious. Her championship word: woebegone. The Houlton High School auditorium erupted with enthusiastic applause. Jennah was the winner; Sam, the runner-up.
    Sewell later described the competition as “edge-of-the-seat and suspenseful.” She added: “I would say in all the years I have run the spelling bee, it was the most intense.”
    Jennah completed the competition as she had begun it. As the first student up, Jennah successfully tackled the word gnash in the practice round with the same calm precision that served her so well throughout.
    The new champion said winning “meant a lot” and her toughest word was grievance which she had spelled correctly in the 11th round. Jennah added that she had studied for four hours the day before the spelling bee and again that morning with her mother Crystal Blake. Jennah’s mother beamed about her daughter’s accomplishment saying she was “very proud of her. She worked very, very hard.”    
    Sam also had the backing of his family in the audience. Rosie Astle, Sam’s mother, said: “I think it’s fantastic. It’s great.” His father, David Astle, said “he’s a good student so we’re very happy for him.” Stepmother Kathy Astle agreed saying: “We’re extremely proud of him.” Sam said his toughest word was lugubrious.
    Sewell, the eighth-grade English teacher at Houlton Junior and Senior High School, has advice for students who use spell check and texting: “Pay more attention to roots, suffixes and prefixes. They really have to use all of their knowledge of how all those things work together. Texting and web chatting has really changed the pace of English and technical writing.”
    As for future contestants, Sewell said, “Next year, make sure you ask a lot of questions about your word — the part of speech, definition and its use in a sentence.” 
    Jennah and Sam will go to the County Spelling Bee on Wednesday, Feb. 9. at 6 p.m. in the new Ashland District School.