The 2022 Logan County Spelling Bee champion Max Fissel said he put his memorization skills to task in preparing for the contest this year, and pulled off the win at the Thursday evening competition by confidently spelling a word that had many adults in the room scratching their heads — “poultice.”
The Bellefontaine Middle School eighth-grader said he was just one spot shy of being a participant in the county-wide bee in 2021, receiving third place at his school contest last school year.
“I really enjoy spelling and I’m a visual learner,” said Max, a son of Stephanie and Mark Fissel. “I would look at a page from our spelling sheet and try to memorize it, and my mom helped to quiz me.
“It was exciting, and a little nerve-wracking, being on stage tonight. We had some great competition.”
Blakely Vollrath, a Bellefontaine Intermediate School fifth-grader, received the runner-up spot after the pair engaged in a three-round spelling duel at the end of the bee at the Riverside Schools auditeria hosted by the Midwest Regional Educational Service Center.
A daughter of Jacey and Ben Vollrath, Blakely said her love of writing and reading likely helped her in the competition, noting that she especially loves reading books in the fantasy genre, including The Land of Stories series. She said recently, she took the time on the bus to and from school to study her spelling list words.
The top two contestants powered through “kimchi, “rhetorical” and “resonance,” but “mien” — “a person’s look or manner” — troubled Blakely in round 13. Max correctly spelled “Cantonese” and then advanced to round 14 for the championship word.
The spelling bee featured the top two spellers from each of the county school buildings for grades one through eight.
Contestants breezed through the first three rounds without a hitch, spelling words with “gusto” and intense “focus.” In round four, “wrenches” and “dire” proved difficult for spellers, but fellow competitors kept a “vibrant” pace and did not “cringe” when it was their turn at the microphone.
Round seven was tricky as well, with one student a little tripped up by “conkers” — a children’s game from Great Britain played using the seeds of horse chestnut trees.
However, the remaining spellers were “emboldened” and had a “penchant” for spelling success in the upcoming rounds.
Four spellers remained in round nine, with Benjamin Logan Middle School seventh-grader Wyatt Gordon still in the contest, along with Grace Johnson, an Indian Lake Middle School seventh-grader.
“Fortuitous” and “transept” proved a challenging in round 10 for Wyatt and Grace, and then the final two spellers remained.
Fellow competitors included BMS eighth-grader Anthony Sylvia, ILMS fifth-grader Kirk Beres; Riverside Middle School seventh-grader Kara Klingler; and Riverside Elementary sixth-grader Clara McGill and fourth-grader Samuel Jackson.
Also qualifying for the county spelling bee but absent from the Thursday contest were BIS fifth-grader Desmond Clark, Benjamin Logan seventh-grader Holly Coaty and Riverside eighth-grader Gillian Knight.