HOULTON, Maine — Vir Singh Ranger, a seventh-grader at Greater Houlton Christian Academy, showed Thursday that he had the spelling chops as he bested 11 other classmates to win his school’s spelling bee.
Singh Ranger correctly spelled the word “diminutive,” followed by “sagacity” to capture his school’s crown in the sixth-round of the competition. The first word means tiny while the second means wisdom.
Determining who would be joining Singh Ranger as the runner-up, however, took considerably longer as four other spellers battled through four additional rounds before eighth-grader Drew Duttweiler came out ahead.
Participants in the Greater Houlton Christian Academy spelling bee Thursday were, front from left, Lily Monarca, Addison Watson, Janey Stone, Abigail Duff and Teanne Ewings; and back, Vir Singh Ranger, Aimon Simoes, Drew Duttweiler, Samuel Duff, Anton Mowrey, Grace Flewelling and Marissa Dow. (Joseph Cyr)
Both the winner and runner-up earned the right to advance to the Aroostook County Bee. The Northern District (Aroostook County) Scripps National Spelling Bee competition for middle school students will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 7, in Fox Auditorium at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. In case of inclement weather on Feb. 7, the competition will be held at the same time and place on Feb. 8.
“This really is one of my favorite events here at the academy,” Headmaster Tom Zimmerman said. “Spelling is a very important skill. God has gifted some of us pretty well with spelling and this is a chance to glorify God.”
Lasting a little more than an hour, the bee featured words of increasing difficulty. Some of the more difficult words students tried to tackle were “dervishes,” which is defined as a member of a Muslim religious order (specifically Sufi) who has taken vows of poverty and austerity; and “felicitously,” defined as “in a felicitous manner (well-suited for the occasion, as an action, manner, or expression; apt; appropriate).
Pastor Randall Burns of Military Street Baptist Church served as the bee pronouncer for the event.
Other students participating were sixth-graders Abigail Duff, Teanne Ewings, Lily Monarca, Janey Stone, and Addison Watson; seventh-grader Aimon Simoes; and eighth-graders Samuel Duff, Anton Mowrey, Grace Flewelling and Marissa Dow.
