SWS students shine at regional spelling bee

Each year, the Scripps National Spelling Bee invites the Sandpoint Waldorf School students, among other schools in the region, to showcase their talents in a series of spelling bees. This year, SWS fifth through eighth grade students stepped up to the challenge, competing with enthusiasm and determination. The top two spellers from each class earned the opportunity to represent SWS at the regional spelling bee in Coeur d'Alene on Saturday, Feb. 8. 

The stakes were high, as the winner of the Inland Northwest Spelling Bee receives an all-expense-paid trip for themselves and a guardian to the national competition in Washington, D.C., in May. Some of the tricky spelling words in the first three rounds included: fulminate, melee, encomium, sobersides and grandiloquent. The winning word of the day was theosophy, and the first-place award, and $1,000 cash prize, went to 8th grader Andrew Ford, a student from the Inland Northwest Homeschool Spelling Association. 

While the SWS participants did not take home the top prize, they demonstrated incredible skill, perseverance, and sportsmanship throughout the event. More importantly, the SWS students left the competition with their heads held high, having enjoyed the experience of competing, and being cheered on by their friends and families. Their hard work and courage to stand on stage and spell in front of an audience is an accomplishment in itself, and we are immensely proud.

"Congratulations to all our SWS spelling bee participants for their dedication and effort," SWS officials said in a press release. "We look forward to another exciting competition next year."