Le Jardin 8th-graders go to state spelling bee
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KAILUA — Two friends from Le Jardin Academy battled for 11 rounds before Wesley Griswold won the Windward O'ahu District Spelling Bee with "oscillation" and "anthesis."
Alexander Tomchak finished second.
The two vied with 11 other Windward students, all of whom were out by the eighth round in the competition held last night at Le Jardin Academy. Then came the spell-off.
Griswold and Tomchak, both eighth-graders, misspelled three rounds of words during the competition for first place. Then both got on track until an error by Tomchak in Round 17. He knew immediately that he had misspelled "epiphany" and spelled it again, correctly. But it was too late.
Griswold credited his acting experience with helping him keep calm in front of the crowd.
"Most of these kids can spell, but they were nervous," Griswold said. He is the son of Rhonda and Jeff Griswold.
Tomchak is the son of Laurie and Dan Tomchak.
Both students will compete in the State Spelling Bee, March 16 in Honolulu.
A total of 14 district winners will receive special gifts from Sears, Island Heritage, Consolidated Theatres, Tesoro Hawai'i, the Hawai'i Court Reporters Association and Anderson News Co.
The State Spelling Bee champion also wins an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, to compete in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in May; a $100 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 winner and runner-up will receive a $100 and $50 cash award from Dede and James Sutherland and a Radio Shack CD player and accessories. CompUSA donates a computer and printer to the champion's school. Travel for Neighbor Island participants and escorts is sponsored by Aloha Airlines.
The final district bee, for the Central O'ahu area, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 20 at Mililani Middle School.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
Correction: Spelling Bee winners will receive $100 and $50 cash awards from Dede and James Sutherland. Dede Sutherland’s name was misspelled in an earlier version of this story because of an error by a news source.
