During the many hours of practice leading up to Monday night’s Aiken County Spelling Bee, Langley-Bath-Clearwater Middle School eighth-grader Mallory Zinger had a bit of trouble with several words.
The word “gestapo” was among them.
Monday at the AECOM Center for the Performing Arts, however, with a spelling bee victory and a trip to the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee in February hanging in the balance, Mallory had no trouble at all. After correctly spelling the word “lunatic” she followed up with “gestapo” to secure the 2018 Aiken County title.
“That was a word I had really been stuck on because I really didn’t understand it, but I just kept going over it and going over it and when I heard it today I knew how to spell it this time,” Mallory, one of 13 competitors, said. “I was really nervous at first and shaking all over, but towards the end I was fine and at the end I was in shock.”
Mallory received a commemorative plaque, an iPad Pro, and a $100 Apple iTunes gift card.
She said an interesting feature about the national spelling bee’s host hotel in Washington, D.C., served as an extra bit of motivation for her heading into the county spelling bee.
“It’s a dream come true,” Mallory commented. “I looked up the hotel and there is a Ferris wheel in the back yard. That really motivated me and I am just really excited.”
Rena Humes of J.D. Lever Elementary School was the spelling bee’s runner-up, and received a commemorative plaque and a $100 Apple iTunes gift card. Ellis Waters of North Augusta Middle School finished in third place. All contestants received gift cards to Books-A-Million.
This year’s contestants also included the following students from across Aiken County:
- Gwendolynn Adkins (Horse Creek Academy)
- Maria Adkinson (Paul Knox Middle School)
- Michael Bell (Kennedy Middle School)
- Tucker Bryan (Chukker Creek Elementary School)
- Cassidy Green (Kennedy Middle School)
- Elisabeth Huezo (New Ellenton STEAM Middle School)
- Jessica Johnson (Ridge Spring-Monetta Middle School)
- Treasure King (Jackson STEM Middle School)
- Briana Nabriat (Leavelle McCampbell Middle School)
- Mykeria Williams (Leavelle McCampbell Middle School)
Alternates for this year’s District spelling bee included the following students:
- Asia Greathouse (Aiken Elementary School)
- Allie Gardiner (North Augusta Middle School)
- Leilani Griffith (Clearwater Elementary School)
- Chance Tamir Sanders (North Aiken Elementary)
- Meagan Fortune (Busbee Corbett Elementary/Middle School)
Sponsors of the event included AECOM, Savannah River Remediation and The Aiken Standard.
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LINK TO DISTRICT PRESS RELEASE: 2018 PR LBC MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT WINS 2018 AIKEN COUNTY SPELLING BEE