Another Elser Wins Spelling Bee

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

— “Proficient” is one word that might describe Caroline Elser’s spelling ability.

It also was the word she spelled correctly to win the Washington County Spelling Bee on Tuesday night.

Caroline, 13, an eighth-grader at Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville, survived a 32-round spelling bee that lasted just over three hours at Springdale’s Central Junior High School. She outlasted 44 other participants representing schools from across the county.

“Good. Worn out,” she said, when asked to describe her feelings at the end.

For winning the bee, Caroline will receive $200. She also gets to represent Washington County in the state spelling bee held March 2 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

Caroline, the daughter of Mark and Janell Elser of Fayetteville, finished second in last year’s county spelling bee. Her brother, Jacob Elser, is a two-time county champ who won the state spelling bee in 2011. Mark, Janell and Jacob Elser were in the audience Tuesday.

Caroline said she got help from her parents and her brother in learning the words.

“I read over the words and had my parents and my brother quiz me about them,” she said.

Sojas Wagle, a sixth-grader at Springdale’s Tyson Middle School, finished second and won $100. He and Caroline battled one-on-one for nine rounds before Sojas slipped on the word “nordic.”

Ethan Jones, a fifth-grader from Fayetteville’s Vandergriff Elementary School, finished third. He won $50.

There were 249 words spelled at Tuesday’s bee. The spellers got off to a sluggish start, as the first three words were misspelled. Fifteen of the 45 participants were eliminated in the first round.

When it got down to the final nine, however, those remaining participants spelled 40 consecutive words correctly before one was missed.

Mark Wilburn, an assistant principal at St. Joseph Catholic School in Fayetteville, served as pronouncer at Tuesday’s bee. He said before the competition started the spelling bee served as a celebration of the students’ brains.

“You’ve been blessed with great brains,” Wilburn said. “All of you are winners because you made it here tonight.”

The bee was held at Central Junior High School because it was the home school of last year’s winner, Chris Pardun. Chris served as a judge at the bee along with Springdale School Board president Kathy McFetridge and Springdale Public Library’s multicultural outreach librarian, Vilma Martinez.