Paulding Schools Sending Two to District Bee

Katie Slavik won’t ever forget how to spell “cummerbund.”

She wasn't familiar with it at first, but ultimately spelled it correctly during Thursday’s Paulding County School System Spelling Bee, held at East Paulding High School. It allowed the McClure Middle School eighth-grader to continue in the contest.

She came out on top against 27 other students from the district’s elementary and middle schools.

“I’m kind of shocked,” she said after winning the bee. “I tried not to think like, ‘Oh, I’m going to win this’—it’s more of like I try to spell every single word no matter if I got it or not.”

Slavik will be one of two students the school system will send to the District IV spelling bee on Feb. 26, the location of which has yet to be set. Joining her will be the runner-up from Thursday’s bee— Madeleine Moore, a fourth-grader from Abney Elementary, who said she had studied for several days prior to the competition.

“Probably since the snow week when we were out,” Moore said.

Slavik and Moore emerged atop the competition after 11 rounds, which ELA Curriculum Coordinator Teri Harris said went longer than most bees in the past. She attributed the length to students’ spelling prowess and a greater focus on vocabulary in the classroom.

“Usually the bees last between five and eight rounds; this year, it went 11 rounds, so our students are getting more and more excellent with their spelling,” Harris said.

Harris also said having an elementary-age student earning competition honors is not uncommon.

“This is the second year in a row that an elementary student has been in the final [round],” she said. “Last year, we had an elementary student as the winner and a middle school student was the runner up; this year, it’s the other way around.

“Probably with the new standards, [elementary students] are being exposed to more higher levels of vocabulary, they’re used to it [being] in their everyday instructional activities, so they’re just getting better and better in spelling,” she added.

Students who took part in Thursday’s event had to win their school spelling bee; the schools held their competitions in January following bees held in students’ classrooms that took place in November and December.

Should Slavik or Moore win the Feb. 26 district bee, they would advance to state competition in March.

Moore said she hopes to study every day leading up to the district competition, adding that when she’s not in school or working on her studies, she’s usually found performing gymnastics.

Slavik too said she hopes to make her study of spelling words a daily routine.

“I’m probably going to study a lot more than I studied for this,” said Slavik, who is interested in web design and even maintains for her classmates a website with the class vocabulary words on it. “I bought a couple of books and I started studying about a week ago, and so now I’m really going to get into this.”

Those who took part in Thursday’s event were:

• Abney Elementary—Madeleine Moore**, Cheyanne Lemons (alternate)
• Allgood Elementary—Harrison Moudry, Anny Ni (alt.)
• Baggett Elementary—William Felton, Destin Hook (alt.)
• Burnt Hickory Elementary—Peyton Moseley, Desiree Edwards (alt.)
• Dallas Elementary—Jack Boone, Benny Ross (alt.)
• Dugan Elementary—Jackson Wright, Hollie Brackin (alt.)
• Hiram Elementary—Imari Hawkins, Adyia Collier (alt.)
• Hutchens Elementary—Hannah Bailey, Cristen Queen (alt.)
• McGarity Elementary—Robert Guenot, Bryce Rogers (alt.)
• Nebo Elementary—Daisha Keller, Sarah Newton (alt.)
• New Georgia Elementary—Maddi Smith, B.J. Dew (alt.)
• Northside Elementary—Aspen Cochran, Bradley Anderson (alt.)
• Panter Elementary—Haley Johnson, Kamal Saucier (alt.)
• Poole Elementary— Brandon Benn, Hayden Belcher (alt.)
• Ragsdale Elementary—Noah Gilbert, Maloree Powers (alt.)
• P.B. Ritch Elementary—Andrew Tait, Hailey Riha (alt.)
• Roberts Elementary—Abraham Onikoyi, Emma McDaniel (alt.)
• Russom Elementary—Jenna Craven, Harrison Campbell (alt.)
• Shelton Elementary—Holly Jackson, Alannah Karr (alt.)
• Union Elementary—Stevi Dycus, Brooke Money (alt.)
• Austin Middle—Alishia Patricio, Kenny Almond (alt.)
• Dobbins Middle—Keisha Marc, Lexi Baulding (alt.)
• East Paulding Middle—James Cole, Heavven Singleton (alt.)
• Herschel Jones Middle—Aubrey Clark, Krystal Scott (alt.)
• McClure Middle—Katie Slavik*, Alex Evans (alt.)
• Moses Middle—Anushka Mahadeo, Amanda Bevis (alt.)
• Scoggins Middle—Austin Hooks, Joshua Dover (alt.)
• South Paulding Middle—Carli Witcher, Helem Morales (alt.)

* - denotes overall winner

** - denotes runner-up