KHS team wins adult spelling bee

Could you correctly spell vicissitude, rastafarian or bistelfink in an adult spelling bee contest?

For 22 local teams, that was the challenge Tuesday night at the Global TransPark Education and Training Center. The adult spelling bee was hosted by the Lenoir Education Foundation and the Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce. Progress Energy and Embarq sponsored the event.

All funds raised at the event will be used to fund Lenoir County Schools' teacher mini-grant program, which was reinstated this year. Chamber president Laura Lee Sylvester said more than $4,000 was raised during the event.

Lenoir County School teachers who apply for the mini-grant will be able to use between $100 and $500 to supplement their classroom costs.

Several teams were in high spirits during each of the three rounds of action. The first team eliminated was a four-person team from Wachovia. When each team was eliminated, a judge popped a balloon hovering above the team's table.

Moss Hill Elementary School's team wore school mascot tiger ears on their heads and placed a stuffed animal tiger on their table, showing school spirit. The Moss Hill team like most teams made it through the first round.

The adult spelling bee words progressively got more difficult to spell as the rounds progressed. First round words included gravimetric, dawdler and atrium. Second round words included semipermeable, blunderbuss and antebellum.

Of the 22 teams, just seven teams made it to the final third round. Kinston High School's team won first prize, South Lenoir High School finished in second place and Northwest Elementary School finished in third place.

Kinston High teacher Treva Romig accepted the team's winning trophy.

"It was my first time participating in the adult spelling bee," she said. "We had a diverse team."

Both South Lenoir and Kinston High fought hard to correctly spell the final word trumeau, which means a pillar or section of wall that separates two doors. With just 45 seconds to spell the word, Kinston High handed their spelling to the judge.

Lenoir Community College spokeswoman Richy Huneycutt announced the correct spelling for trumeau, sending cheers up from the Kinston High table.

Chris Lavender can be reached at (252) 559-1078 or clavender@freedomenc.com.