Spelling comes naturally to some

Winner says, 'I didn't study'

All eyes were on the green cards wielded by the judges at the Randall County Senior Spelling Bee on Tuesday.

If the three judges flashed their green cards after the contestants finished spelling their word, the students would move on. If the judges held up red cards, spellers were eliminated.

Eight times Brittany Lowry spelled her word and waited for the judges to hold up green cards in front of the stage at Greenways Intermediate School. Eight times they did.

And when the Canyon Junior High School eighth-grader spelled "bankruptcy" correctly in the ninth round of the spelling bee, she became the 2008 Randall County Senior Spelling Bee champion, topping 28 other contestants.

"I didn't study," Brittany said. "A lot of the words were vocabulary we got in Miss (Donna) Kuhlman's (eighth-grade English) class. They're fill-in-the-blanks, so you have to know how to spell them."

Second-place finisher Catherine Houseal, a fifth-grader at Canyon Intermediate School, competed in the Senior Bee after she repeated as the Randall County Junior Spelling Bee. Catherine was also the 2006 Potter County Junior Spelling Bee.

"I studied some, but mostly I read a bunch," Catherine said. "I've read most of the fiction books in our house."

In the Randall County Bee, the top-three spellers are recognized. Brandon Boyd, Trevor Macklin and Jacob Jordan faced off in the third-place spell-off.

Six rounds later, Brandon Boyd, an eight-grader at Westover Park Junior High School, claimed the third-place trophy.

Brittany now represents Randall County in the Regional Spelling Bee, scheduled for March 22 at the West Texas A & M University Branding Iron Theatre. The winner at regional goes on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

The top-five spellers in the 2008 Randall County Senior Spelling Bee included:

• Brittany Lowry, eighth grade, Canyon Junior High School
• Catherine Houseal, fifth-grade, Canyon Intermediate School
• Brandon Boyd, eighth grade, Westover Park Intermediate School
• Trevor Macklin, sixth grade, Canyon Intermediate School
• Jacob Jordan, sixth grade, Canyon Intermediate School

bank-rupt-cy

bank'rupt'se

Definition: (n.) 1. the state or an instance of being bankrupt 2. complete failure; ruin

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