Student spellers are    s-c-i-n-t-i-l-l-a-t-i-n-g

A 21st Century Schoolhouse freshman takes first in her Marion County division.

DAN DE CARBONEL
Statesman Journal
May 10, 2001

(SALEM) Sixty percent may be a passing grade in school, but at the 25th Willamette Education District Spelling Contest all you end up with is a shredded eraser and a bruised ego.

Especially if you are a newspaper reporter competing for fun with elementary school students.

Students from Marion and Polk counties competed Wednesday in three divisions, and the winners now advance to the state competition at the Oregon State Fair on Labor Day weekend.

Unlike a spelling bee, students wrote each word. There were 30 in all, including nyctalopia, commensalism and that old favorite, sphygmomanometer.

The contest also used tie breakers, which came in handy for the high school division, which required five additional rounds.

Meredith Markham-Cameron, a freshman at The 21st Century Community Schoolhouse in Salem, represented the Salem-Keizer School District. She finished first in the high school division. It was Meredith’s third county title.

She said her skill developed through a love of reading. She reads everything, including the philosophy of Nietzsche and reference books.

She’s even read the dictionary. Not all of it, she said, although her showing might otherwise indicate.

“Spelling well is a fairly useless talent. It’s only good for bothering friends and winning spelling bees,” she said with a laugh. “But I do hope winning this says something about 21st Century.”

While the middle school students struggled with words such as nasturtium, paraphernalia and pasteurization, the elementary school contestants faced less vexing words. A few members of the audience — and a reporter — played along.

Saphire? No problem for the reporter. Camoflauge? Easy. Rondezvous? Piece of cake.

All wrong.

“Were you sitting in with the high school students?” event organizer Bonnie Beach asked the reporter when informed of his score.

“No,” he said. “I was here with the elementary school kids.”

“Oh?” Beach said with a polite smile. “The high school test had some very difficult words.”

The reporter nodded glumly, and gave thanks for dictionaries, spell-checkers and editors.

Dan de Carbonel can be reached at (503) 399-6714.