Taylor spells his way to bee championship

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Following 16 rounds, 112 words and 11 fellow competitors, sixth-grader Adam Taylor was the last speller standing during the seventh annual SeDoMoCha Middle School District Spelling Bee on the evening of Jan. 5.
The field was narrowed down to Taylor and classmate Cody Chambers, who came in second a year ago, after 15 rounds. Taylor correctly identified all the letters in suet and then he needed to spell one word for the win. As the audience of family members and teachers looked on, Taylor stayed up at the microphone and said, “P,A,R,T,R,I,D,G,E,” to earn the 2017 SeDoMoCha speller honors.
Taylor, whose older sister Madeline won last year’s bee, earned a $50 check for his first-place finish. Chambers received a $25 prize.
The Jan. 5 bee serves as the Piscataquis County qualifier for the Maine State Spelling Bee, which is being sponsored by the Portland Press Herald and is scheduled for Saturday, March 25 at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. Chambers will serve as the alternate if Taylor is unable to attend the state bee.
During her opening remarks literacy teacher and bee organizer Carolyn Clark said she and her colleagues were reminiscing about their own spelling bee experiences during the day’s lunch. She said they all could recall the words they got wrong, “but we never mentioned that we were sad we tried.”
Clark told the participants they should be proud for choosing to take part in the classroom bees last month, standing up in front of their peers and for doing the same before the general audience that evening.
“Be proud to be part of this bee, you already know your classmates don’t have the skill to spell the words or the willingness to get up in front of everyone,” bee announcer and grade 8 social studies teacher Dyan McCarthy-Clark told the 12 students.
Each pupil was presented with a certificate for qualifying for the spelling bee. Clark said during the next school day she would be returning the certificates, with the words each student spelled correctly written on the back.
The 2017 SeDoMoCha Middle School District Spelling Bee qualifiers were fifth-graders Noah Cavanagh, Jack Kingsbury, Wyatt Rayfield and Rebecca Seaman; sixth-graders Cody Chambers, Craig Farmer, Ayda Holyoke and Adam Taylor; seventh-graders Miles Gadwah, Emily Leighton, Carter Wilcox and Angel Williams; and eighth-graders Alyssa Boyd, Miriam Cameron, Annabelle Rhoda and Madeline Taylor.
Taylor joins previous winners including his sister Madeline Taylor last year, Steffi Victoria (who earned top honors in both 2015 and 2014), Phoenix Eastman in 2013, Jenna Clukey in 2012 and Shania Roussel in 2011.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
LETTER PEOPLE — On Jan. 5 SeDoMoCha Middle School hosted the seventh annual district spelling bee with the top grade 5-8 spellers competing for a chance to advance to the Maine State Spelling Bee in March at the University of Southern Maine in Portland. Sixth-grader Adam Taylor finished as the 2017 champion and grade 6 student Cody Chambers finished as the runner-up for the second year in a row. Bee participants were front, from left, Madeline Taylor (who earned top honors a year ago and is the older sister of Adam Taylor), Rebecca Seaman, Jack Kingsbury, Chambers, Taylor, Noah Cavanagh and Annabelle Rhoda. Back, Emily Leighton, Angel Williams, Ayda Holyoke, Craig Farmer and Miles Gadwah.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
THE SCHOOL’S TOP SPELLERS — On Thursday evening sixth-grader Adam Taylor, right, won the SeDoMoCha Middle School Spelling Bee to qualify for the state competition in March. Also pictured is runner-up sixth-grader Cody Chambers. The two received respective $50 and $25 prizes for their performances.