Many adults have a fear of spelling, as do many children. But, Raelin Speights is in a class of her own as West Marion Primary's star speller.
The top three students from each class at West Marion Primary competed in the school spelling bee. Speights was the school winner and moved on to the district competition where she won first place.
Speights went to the state competition in Columbus on March 13, as the only third grader competing.
"I feel really good about how I did," Speights said. "I finished in 21st place at the state bee, but I was competing against students all the way up to eighth grade."
The word that Speights missed was "peacenik." She said she could not understand the moderator even though she asked her to repeat the word.
She received a medal and a gift card, as well as a free book coupon to a bookstore in Columbus, which she says she will use next time she goes up there.
The sponsoring teacher, Marlo Shepherd, said she and the school are proud of Speights.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee began in 1925 when nine newspapers joined together to host a spelling bee. Since that time, more than 11 million students have participated each year.
