By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor
On Thursday, Lynn Camp eighth grader Fred Slusher spelled success — A-C-O-U-S-T-I-C.
That’s the word that made Slusher, for the second year in a row, the grand champion of the Knox County Spelling Bee, and the county’s representative in the Kentucky Derby Festival Spelling Bee this March.
“I’m hoping to win it,” Fred said of the state competition. “I’ve always wanted to go to the National Spelling Bee.”
He’s got a good chance — last year Fred placed 15th out of 56 state-wide spellers.
Mom and spelling coach Regina Slusher said she’s “very proud and very thankful” for her son’s talents.
“He’s academically successful and he’s always inspired to do better in school,” she said. “I really encourage him because I, myself, didn’t go to college and I want him to be all he can be.”
She said the two have been spending about two hours a night practicing spelling words. They’re ready to crank up their studies in preparation for the state bee.
“I read the word, spell it to myself and repeat it again,” Fred said. “And then me and my mom go over it. If I miss a word, she gives it to me again, and keeps giving it to me until I get it right.”
Twenty-two students from Knox County schools and Saint Camillus Academy competed in Thursday’s spelling bee at the Knox County Board Annex building in Barbourville. Eleven were eliminated in the first round; eight remained in round two; and three young men battled it out from round four until the end of the competition.
The youngest (and possibly the youngest to ever compete in the county-wide bee) was second grader Seth Duncan, who made it through the first two rounds but was eliminated on the word “glamourous.” County-level competitors had placed first and second at their respective schools’ spelling bees, and Duncan had out-spelled sixth graders at Girdler Elementary to be invited to Thursday’s competition.
Third place went to eighth grader Logan Disney of Knox Middle School, and second place went to sixth grader Clay Sprinkles of Lay Elementary.
“Clay and Logan, it’s interesting, their fathers are both principals of Knox County schools,” said Knox public relations spokesperson David Cole, adding with a laugh, “I’m sure they’ll have a golf game after this to determine who’s the champion.”
All participants in Thursday’s bee received trophies and a thesaurus donated by Kentucky Farm Bureau. The event is sponsored by the Knox County Board of Education, and the GFWC/KFWC Barbourville Junior Women’s Study Club provided refreshments.
