East Central Elementary fifth grader Lucy Larson won the Rome City Schools District Spelling Bee on Friday by correctly spelling “ferret” and then “folklore” in the ninth round. Larson, who participated in the district bee last year as a fourth grader, said her previous experience helped her this time.
By the eighth round, only two contestants remained: Larson and Samantha Acas, a sixth grader also from East Central. Acas missed her word at the start of the ninth round, giving Larson an opportunity to win.
“I thought it was easy,” Larson said when asked about spelling “ferret.” After spelling that word correctly, she was given “folklore” for the championship. She described feeling very happy after realizing she had won: “I was just really, really happy.”
Larson shared that her preparation included practicing with her father after gymnastics. “I go to gymnastics a lot, but after gymnastics I would practice with my dad at night,” she said. “I would practice until I would get one wrong, and then I would quiz him because it’s another good way of learning the words.”
Acas also returned to the district bee after finishing sixth as a fourth grader two years ago. She expressed satisfaction with her improvement: “It feels really good to finish second. Last time, when I was in fourth grade, I finished sixth, so I’m glad I finished better this time.” In addition to studying with her parents, Acas studied together with Larson since they live in the same neighborhood. “I would read over the words, and I let my mom quiz me,” Acas said. “But Lucy and I live in the same neighborhood, so we studied together too.”
When asked about her favorite part of participating in the bee, Larson responded by mentioning Acas: “I love it that I got to come here with Samantha, she’s one of my best friends.”
With this win, Larson qualifies for the Region One Spelling Bee while Acas will serve as alternate. Both plan to continue studying together before the regional competition.
Other participants included students from Anna K. Davie Elementary (Lima Waid and Athena Boone), Elm Street Elementary (Marlo Salter and Demi Dulaney), Main Elementary (Dylan Bunch and Mekhi Heath), West Central Elementary (Kelvin Sanders Jr. and Hansell Vicente Sontay), West End Elementary (Franklin Perez-Vicente and Carter Green), and Rome Middle (Belle Sepulveda and Annie Cole).
