Middle schoolers vie for spelling title

On Thursday, Oct. 3, Crossett Brook Middle School hosted the VPA Spelling Competition for grades 7 and 8. 

Harwood has had a team since the inception of team competitions in 2005, and has generally moved on to the regional competitions unopposed as the district represenative. This year they had a contender for the Harwood Union Unified School District title.

Crossett Brook spelling team members include Julia Brewer, Grace Casey, Mia Grasso, Dagne Pippenger, Shea Wheeler and coach Jennifer Hill. 

The Harwood Union Middle School spelling team members include Francesca Galati, Julia Cox, Annabelle Reisner, Kerna Bond-Bardes, Solveig George, Poppy Woods, coach Jacki McCarty and community volunteer Judi Gross.

Spelling coaches Jennifer Hill and Jacki McCarty organized the competition, which was hosted by Crossett Brook. Thatcher Brook library media specialist Nancy Daigle was the guest pronouncer for the competition. Kelsey Burnell was the scorekeeper while Laura Wedel, Bernadette Cuttler-Bloom and Crossett principal Stephanie Hudak served as judges, and also provided sentences, word definitions and word origins as needed.  

Both teams were evenly matched with spelling talent, and for many rounds the scores were within six points (three words) of each other. The final round proved challenging for all spellers, with words like dodecahedron, bourgeois, and feng shui. 

The final score was 92-76, with Harwood taking the district title.  The Harwood Union Middle School spelling team will represent the school district in the Vermont Principals’ Association Regional Team Spelling Competition on Oct. 26.