Current Event #5

Marathon Spelling Bee Finally Has A Winner

In February, a spelling bee that was held between two Kansas City area students, Kush Sharma and Sophia Hoffman,  ran out of words after the two students continuously went without misspelling any words. The marathon spelling bee finally came to an end after 29 more rounds when Sophia Hoffman misspelled the word "stifling". After Sophia Hoffman misspelled the word given to her, there was a lengthy break to listen to the audio of the round and verify that Sophia had heard the word correctly.

In the 29th round Kush was given the word "definition" to spell. After given the word, he promptly spelled it correctly and won the bee. Kush is now going to move on the the National Spelling Bee in Washington,  in May. Sophia is excited for coming so far in the spelling bee and hopes to compete again next year. Kush said he, too, would compete again.

This spelling bee event could tie in with the stem words we have. Spelling the words isn't that difficult for me, though. The definitions are hard to memorize. I think that its crazy that the first spelling bee that was held ran out of words. I think that Sophia should still win something for doing such a great job and coming so far. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened. The word "stifling" doesn't even seem like a difficult word to spell. I feel sorry for her, since she came so fare and got defeated by a word as simple as "stifling". Especially since Kush was given the word definition right afterwards.

By using quotations throughout the article, the author gives direct evidence of how the students felt about the prolonged spelling bee. It states in the article that both students became close friends through the journey. Kush stated in the article, "I was pretty sad when [Sophia] got [a] word incorrect...[however,] that's the game...it's going to come down to one person, whether you're friends or not." (Draper). By adding this quotation the author, showed directly how Kush felt about the competition coming to an end, with him being the winner. 

Draper, Bill.  "Marathon Spelling Bee Finally Has A Winner."  Tweentribune. Concordia University, 13 Mar. 2014.  Web.  16 Mar. 2014.  <http://tweentribune.com/teen/marathon-spelling-bee-finally-has-winner>. 

Somthingstartedcrazy.  "Spelling bee."  Photograph.  Flickr.  Yahoo, 20 Jan. 2008.  Web.  16 Mar. 2014 <http://www.flickr.com/photos/somethingstartedcrazyy/2207832497/in/photostream/>.