'Propensity' helps 7th-grader triumph
By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor
WAILUKU, Maui — Two students battled through 43 words before a winner was decided last night in the Honolulu Advertiser Maui District Spelling Bee at Baldwin High School.
In the end, Zoe Harran, 12, a seventh-grader at Kalama Intermediate, was declared champion of the hour-long contest. Runner-up was Nathaniel Salazar, 12, a seventh-grader at Maui Waena Intermediate. Both students will compete in the State Spelling Bee March 16 in Honolulu.
The night started with 16 students from three islands, but by the end of the fourth round, only Harran and Salazar were left.
Harran, daughter of Wayne and Janet Harran, correctly spelled "propensity" and "oblique" to win, after Salazar stumbled on "debilitated."
Fourteen district winners will receive special gifts from Sears, Island Heritage, Consolidated Theatres, Tesoro Hawaii, the Hawai'i Court Reporters Association and Anderson News Co.
The State Spelling Bee champion also wins an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in May; a $100 U.S. Savings Bond from Jay Sugarman; Spelling Bee merchandise; a Webster's Third New International Dictionary; a $200 Sears merchandise certificate; and a special gift basket from Island Heritage.
Both the winner and runner-up will receive a $100 and $50 cash award from Dee Dee and James Sutherland and a Radio Shack CD player and accessories.
CompUSA also donates a computer and printer to the champion's school.
Travel for Neighbor Island participants and escorts is sponsored by Aloha Airlines.
The district bee schedule is:
• Big Island, today, 1 p.m., Hilo High School.
• Kaua'i, Feb. 7, 6:30 p.m., Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School.
• Leeward, Feb. 8, 7 p.m., Kapolei Middle School.
• Windward, Feb. 13, 6:30 p.m., Le Jardin Academy.
• Central, Feb. 20, 6 p.m., Mililani Middle School.
