COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho — A spray of confetti, a gleaming first place trophy, a check for $1,000 and a trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C, reports the Coeur d'Alene Press.
Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy eighth grader Kayla Tenney Villalobos, of Coeur d'Alene, reigned supreme Saturday morning to become the 2023 North Idaho Spelling Bee champion.
"I'm kind of in shock," Kayla said right after she correctly spelled "Taiwan" in the championship round.
Kayla is the 10th eighth-grader to ever win the North Idaho Spelling Bee and the fourth winner from Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy.
She said she hadn't practiced her spelling as diligently as she could have leading up to the bee. Even so, she still managed to hold steady through 18 competitive rounds and claim victory in the 19th round.
"I didn't expect to win. I was like, 'Maybe I'll get top 10,'" she said, chuckling. "I kind of crammed today."
Along with the trip, trophy and money, Kayla also won a 2023 United States proof set and a year's online subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica and Webster’s Dictionary.
Held in the Schuler Performing Arts Center on the North Idaho College campus, the 20th North Idaho Spelling Bee was a showcase of stellar spelling skills as 21 fourth- through eighth-grade students from across the Idaho Panhandle tackled a slew of daunting vocabulary words: hologram, gumption, puckish, harmonious, tawny, stewardship, windbaggery, illusionist and mano a mano, to name a few.
Runner-up Erik Brunner, a sixth grader from Lakes Middle School, put up quite a fight as he made it to the 18th round, during which he misspelled "parlay." If the bee had lasted 20 rounds, and if Erik had reached Round 20, he also would have won a trip to D.C. to compete in the national bee.
Erik and Kayla were neck and neck in Round 16 when they both misspelled their words. When all contestants misspell, they have a shot at redemption in the next round.
Last year's runner-up, Coeur d'Alene Charter seventh grader Amiah Van Hill, made it to the 15th round. She was bested by the word "tawdry."
"I was really nervous before the bee, but that's kind of always how it is," she said. "When I get up there and do the practice round, I feel more comfortable using the microphone and listening to everyone else's words and getting a sense of what's going on."
Every student correctly spelled the words in the practice round, which may have been a first for this bee.
Inland Northwest Christian Homeschoolers eighth grader Ethan Wheeler, who went out on the word "addle" in Round 3, had practiced for the bee since December.
"It's nerve-racking, but I feel like I did pretty good in those few rounds," he said between the second and third rounds. "Every day of the school week I've been spelling."
He also participated in 2020 regional bee, which took place just before the COVID-19 pandemic erupted. Although it can be tough, Ethan said he really enjoys spelling.
"It's a fine art," he said.
The North Idaho Spelling Bee was emceed by Coeur d'Alene School District Deputy Superintendent Mike Nelson. Words were provided by bee pronouncer and NIC's Communications and Fine Arts Division Chair Joe Jacoby.
The regional bee is sponsored by the Idaho Character Foundation, led by Dan and Kathryn Pinkerton. The foundation is a nonprofit that promotes character excellence throughout the community. The bee was previously sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene Press for 17 years. In 2020, NIC sponsored and oversaw the competition, then announced it would retire from the bee.
This was the second year with the Idaho Character Foundation at the helm.
Dan Pinkerton said he was grateful to the Coeur d'Alene Press for setting the stage for the event for so many years prior to the Idaho Character Foundation taking it over.
"We're grateful for the diligent students that were here," he said. "We were really rooting for Erik. He only needed two more rounds and he would have gone to nationals. Hopefully next year we'll have two winners."
The Scripps National Spelling Bee will be May 31 through June 2 in D.C. Kayla will compete against students from across the country and from American Samoa, Puerto Rico, Department of Defense Schools in Europe, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands for a chance to win the $50,000 cash champion's prize.
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