Easy E: Reagan Middle School sixth-grader wins regional spelling bee

DIXON – Kathleen Keesey hoped for fewer e's and more ease.

Kathleen, a Reagan Middle School sixth-grader, made sure not to overdo it Thursday in her second appearance at this year's Lee-Ogle-Whiteside Regional Spelling Bee at Dixon High School.

"Knish" did her in a year ago when she added an "e" to the end of the Jewish snack food. When she put the final "e" on "truculence," though, it became the winning letter to send her to the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 24-29 in National Harbor, Maryland.

Kathleen beat 37 spellers in eight rounds to become her school's first regional winner since 2005.

"I was 50-50 on the word, and I was just hoping that I would spell it correctly," she said. "If I didn't, I wasn't sure if I could win."

She and Forreston Junior High seventh-grader Devin Bratt were the final two spellers after seven rounds. Devin put an "a" where the "e" is in "obstetrician," but Kathleen had to spell "pageantry" correctly in order to end the round. She then wrote out "truculence" on the palm of her right hand, one letter at a time, to earn the win – a far cry from last year's blooper.

"I got out on the easiest word in the world," she recalled.

St. Andrew of Rock Falls eighth-grader Jedh Valida and Aplington Junior High of Polo seventh-grader Gage Zeigler also made the final four after six rounds. Valida got tangled on "wherewithal" before Devin mastered "megalomaniac" and Kathleen got by "curmudgeon."

Gage's freshman sister, Rebekah, won the bee the last 5 years, and he was the top returning speller from 2 years ago; he lost to Rebekah in Aplington's school final last year. This year, he added an 'h" on "apostate" to bow out in the same place he finished in his last appearance.

"It wasn't very hard, but my mom told me that if the origin was Greek, then it's 'ph,'" Gage said. "I'm fine. I just want to be back next year."

An audible gasp was heard when longtime pronouncer Tom Wadsworth said the six syllables in "megalomaniac." That didn't bother Devin, who spelled the word with ease. But that "e" in "obstetrician" got him.

"I didn't think I would get to this point," Devin said. "It's pretty exciting."

Kathleen spent plenty of time studying at home with her parents and grandmother. Her English teacher, Rebecca Pate-Clevenger, helped prep she and her classmates for the bee with 10 minutes of practice at the end of each class.

She knew many words, but wouldn't have known how strong the other competitors would be.

"You know how good you are, but you don't know how good everyone else is," she said. "There were a lot of good contestants."

Of the 38 contestants, eight were in the regional bee before. Ashton-Franklin Center eighth-grader Lauren Stone ended her fourth trip on "risibility" as the last to be eliminated before the final four.

"I would have been out on that one for sure," Kathleen said.

In addition to the trip to the national competition, Kathleen also won a 2020 United States mint proof set, 1-year online subscriptions to Encyclopedia Britannica and the Merriam-Webster Unabridged dictionary, and a $100 Amazon gift card.

Devin won a Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary and a $75 Amazon gift card. Gage got another $25 Amazon card for another third-place finish.

The eight rounds are the fewest in the competition since Wadsworth became pronouncer in 1983. This year's words by eight rounds were tougher than in years past, he said.

Test your word power:

Here are the final 12 words spelled by students Thursday at this year's Lee-Ogle-Whiteside Regional Spelling Bee:

truculence

pageantry

obstetrician

apostate

curmudgeon

megalomaniac

wherewithal

charismatic

sclerosis

concomitant

regurgitate

malevolent

Late-round words from years past include:

dalliance

oculist

sarsaparilla

schottische

ephemeral

schadenfreude

witloof

barukhzy

pizzicato

corpuscle