51
young spellers make round 5
Phillipsburg boy out after second
round
Thursday, June 02, 2005 • BY REBECCA SCHMOYER •
Star-Ledger Staff
Aaron Sulick spelled the name of the
Mexican turnip correctly yesterday morning during round two
of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
But the written test apparently stumped
the 11-year-old from Phillipsburg, as he was not one of the
93 out of the group of 273 spellers to advance to round
three, officials said.
A total of 71 spellers went on to round
four, said Cybelle Weeks, administrative assistant for the
Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Aaron, a fifth-grader at Andover Morris
Elementary School, went to the podium yesterday in the
Independence Ballroom at the Grand Hyatt in Washington D.C.
to spell the word "jicama."
He got it right. But he did not
accumulate enough points from the multiple-choice test in
round one to move on to the third round, said Greg Tourney,
a spelling bee staff member.
The 25-question written exam included
words such as "rorschach" (a test using symmetrical
inkblots), "scilicet" (an adverb meaning "that is to say")
and "glacis" (a gentle slope), said Craig Bucki, co-captain
of college staff at the bee.
Then everyone automatically advanced to
round two, an oral exam consisting of a single word for
three points, Bucki said.
But to advance to round three yesterday,
spellers had to accumulate at least 22 out of a total of 28
points from both previous rounds.
This morning, the remaining 51 spellers
will compete against each other for round 5, Weeks said. A
national champion speller should be named around 3:30 p.m.
today after a total of 12 to 15 rounds, she said.
As for the status of other spellers from
the state, Katharine Close, 12, of H.W. Mountz School in
Spring Lake, and Arjun Modi, 13, of George Washington Middle
School in Ridgewood are both competing in round five this
morning.
Tristan Kooker, 13, of Upper Township
Middle School, Petersburg, Cape May County, made it to round
4 but did not move on to round five.
Paul Cyr, 14, of Green Bank Elementary
School, Green Bank, Burlington County; Carolyn Nguyen Vu,
12, of Resurrection School, Jersey City and Sultan Elzeini,
13, of Crossroads North Middle School, Monmouth Junction,
Middlesex County did not advance to round three.
The status of spellers can also be
followed at the bee's official web site: www.spellingbee.com.
Rebecca Schmoyer can be reached at
rschmoyer@starledger.com or (908) 475-1218.
© 2005 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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