Kirkland Smallwood, an eighth grader at DeKalb West School, won the 9th annual DeKalb County Spelling Bee Thursday night at DeKalb County High School.
(PLAY VIDEO BELOW TO SEE ALL PARTICIPANTS IN SPELLING BEE DURING THE FIRST ROUND)
Smallwood, the 13 year old son of Jimmy and Jennifer Smallwood of Liberty was among thirty nine students from the fourth grade to the eighth grade who participated in the contest.
He correctly spelled the words “extemporaneous” and “cholera” in the fourth round to claim the championship.
Eleven year old Christian Sisk, a fifth grader at Northside Elementary School, was the runner-up in the contest. His grandparents are Donald Arnold and Rosie Arnold of Smithville.
Students from DeKalb Middle School, DeKalb West School, and Northside Elementary School recently competed at the school level to become eligible for the county competition.
(PLAY VIDEO BELOW TO SEE REMAINING TEN STUDENTS IN SPELLING BEE ROUNDS TWO THROUGH SIX AND AWARDS)
Along with students from thirty nine other counties, Smallwood and Sisk will compete in the Middle Tennessee Regional Spelling Bee sponsored by Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz and Belmont University. The regional bee will take place on Friday, March 2, 2012 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. The winner of the Regional Spelling Bee will compete in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.
The purpose in sponsoring the County Wide Spelling Bee is to “help students improve Spelling skills, increase vocabularies, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives”.
Participants in this year’s County Wide Spelling Bee were:
Northside Elementary School:
Fourth Grade-Anna Chew, Isaac Cross, Braxton Hutchings, Katherine Malone, Raiden Martin, Logan Speaks, and Malia Stanley
Fifth Grade- Madi Cantrell, Malone Fletcher, Molly Hall, Dulce Marcel, Ashley Phillips, Christian Sisk, Isaac Walker, and Derek Young.
DeKalb Middle School:
Sixth Grade- Kayla Belk, Olivia Fuson, Haley Martin, Allison Maynard, Shauna Pedroza, Hunter Speaks, and Justin Stanick
Seventh Grade- Alexis Cantrell, Timothy Cassinera, Reagan Patton, Skylar Pease, and Alyssa Sewell
DeKalb West School:
Fourth Grade- Lexy Gammons, Christian Trail, and Kelsey Wade
Fifth Grade-Callie Mulloy and Thomas Tippin
Sixth Grade-Mark Mace
Seventh Grade-Brandy Rock and Casey Vickers
Eighth Grade- Madison Hayes, Mary Mofield, Kirkland Smallwood, and Morgan Vickers.
Ten students advanced to the second round including Malone Fletcher, Justin Stanick, Brandy Rock, Kirkland Smallwood, Christian Sisk, Reagan Patton, Madi Cantrell, Haley Martin, Morgan Vickers, and Malia Stanley
Four students made it to the third round including Kirkland Smallwood, Christian Sisk, Reagan Patton, and Morgan Vickers
Kirkland Smallwood claimed the championship in the fourth round.
Christian Sisk, Reagan Patton, and Morgan Vickers were brought back for a fifth and sixth round to determine who would take second place.
Christian Sisk correctly spelled the word “carbohydrates” to secure the runner-up spot.