By Rinna Waddhany

| The Salt Lake Tribune

Vicious, or rather, v-i-c-i-o-u-s.

That was the winning word at Riverview Junior High’s inaugural spelling bee, held in late January. But there was nothing vicious about it. Exciting was the better word for it.

Photos

• 
• 
• 

	Join the Discussion
	Post a Comment

"As we went round after round, it was more intense for the students [left] on the stage," recounted Cambria Demke, teacher and chairwoman of Riverview’s English department.

The spelling bee turned out to be such a success that the school plans to do it again next year — perhaps with a bigger audience.

Taking home the first-place prize was Zach Jamison, who was part of a seventh-grade trio that dominated the bee. Jamison admits that his preparation amounted to a cramming session before the competition.

"I had meant to study," he said, "but I only studied the night before and the morning before."

Although Jamison was nervous at the beginning of the bee, he said the excitement — especially the thrill of winning — eventually overtook his nerves. He now advances to the regional competition in March 10 at Juan Diego Catholic High School as part of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

"I will definitely study a lot more," Jamison said.

Demke plans to help Jamison get ready for the regional tourney.

The notion of a Riverview spelling bee was proposed by a parent early in the school year. As a result, the English department went to work organizing and hosting class spelling competitions that produced two winners apiece for the final bee.

This year, the spelling bee was an invitation-only affair for parents. But next year, Demke hopes to expand the event with an assembly open to the entire school.

"Next year, it’ll be something the students would be more excited about," Demke said. "We would do some more prepped lesson plans to get them more involved."

This year’s competition lasted for 19 rounds. However, it required eight extra rounds to choose between friends Emily Bahr and Laura Leiser for the second-place winner.

"It was nerve-racking walking up there with people’s eyes on you," Bahr said.

The two seventh-grade girls — who are friends with Jamison — said they are happy for their classmate’s win.

"I’m fine with Zach winning," Leiser said. "I didn’t think I would make it that far."

Both girls couldn’t attend spelling practice because of extra-curricular activities such as soccer and trumpet lessons. But Leiser did her best to incorporate a little vocabulary into her busy schedule.