Top Rector spellers advance to county

The 2009 Rector High School Spelling Bee featured 20 bright young students all coming together to take part in one of the most widely recognized word-based competitions.

The event, held Tuesday, Jan. 13, at the elementary multi-purpose room, is designed to find the top three spellers in grades 5 to 8 to represent Rector in the county spelling bee.

The bee lasted 10 rounds with eighth grader Kaitlyn Essman winning the top honor after correctly spelling "chronology" and "blithe." She is the 14-year-old daughter of Danny Essman and Carla Essman of Rector.

"I was a little nervous when we started," Essman said. "After a while, I became more comfortable being up in front of the crowd."

Second place went to sixth grader Madalyn Crittenden. She is the 11-year-old daughter of Don and April Crittenden of Rector.

Earning third place and securing the final invitation to the county bee was eighth grader Hayden McCluskey. He is the 13-year-old son of Matt and Lorna McCluskey of Greenway.

Organizers praised all of the participants.

"All the students had to win spelling bees in their classes to receive this opportunity," said junior high English teacher Constance Johnston. "They all earned recognition for that. I've enjoyed my students who took part in this and look forward to having the elementary participants in my class in the future."

Students competing in the spelling bee were: fifth graders Danny Hager, Brian Hufty, Ty Haney, Abraham Christiansen and Victoria Hill; sixth graders Blane Murray, Alyssa Diddle, Skyler Shockley and Michael Hufty; seventh graders Madison Cate, Lindsay Ford, Bailey Haney, Anna Blackshare and Amy DeMent (an alternate for the absent Johnna Lopez), and eighth graders Tyler Bennett, Kelly Fowler and Mitchell Weber.

Essman, Crittenden and McCluskey will move on to take part in the county bee at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28 at Piggott High School.