It was a t-y-p-h-o-o-n that pushed Gabi to the top

 

story and photos by Joel Rafkin

Four consonants and three vowels, t-y-p-h-o-o-n, was all it took to earn the spot as the top speller from grades 4th-8th in Sebastian County.

Gabi Gorgas, 13, a seventh grade student at Trinity Junior High School triumphed over 34 other contestants after 10 rounds on Saturday at Breedlove Auditorium at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith during the Sebastian County Spelling Bee. The event serves as the local segment of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and was sponsored by BancorpSouth.

The first 250 words for the event were selected from Merriam-Webster’s Spell It Web site. Additional words chosen from a dictionary were ready in the event that the Spell It words were exhausted.

Dr. Joe Hardin, dean of the college of languages and communication at UAFS, read each word, offered alternate pronunciations, the definition and used the word in a sentence. A round was deemed complete after each child attempted a word. As the two-hour long event progressed, more chairs became vacant as those who were unsuccessful exited the stage at the conclusion of each round.

Second place went to eighth-grader Nate McFerren, 13, of Darby Junior High School after he misspelled “bungalow.” Rounding out the top three spots was Breanna Vongvilay, 10, a fifth grade student at Sutton Elementary School.

BancorpSouth awarded savings accounts in the amount of $100, $50 and $25 for first through third place, respectively. UAFS Chancellor Dr. Paul Beran awarded vouchers for college scholarships of $2,000, $500 and $250 to the first through third place winners redeemable in the future should they decide to attend UAFS.

Gorgas will represent Sebastian County at the state spelling bee in Little Rock on March 6.