SAFFORD — The look of surprise on Janelle Vandermeulen’s face was genuine when the crowd started applauding.
Vandermeulen correctly spelled enzyme and affable to win the 2022 Graham County Spelling Bee Thursday, at the county’s General Services Building.
“I was just straight up guessing,” Vandermeulen said. “All of the words that I studied they gave to the other people, so I was not confident at all.”
She is the first winner from Bonita Elementary School since Hattie Houser won in 2012.
Kaylen Minor, of Pima Elementary, is the runner-up and will appear at the state Spelling Bee if Vandermeulen is unable to attend.
Thursday’s Spelling Bee went 20 rounds and a total of 96 words were attempted by the 18 contestants who won qualifying spelling bees at elementary and middle schools throughout Graham County.
It was rough going early, with four contestants misspelling words in each of the first three rounds. One speller was eliminated in each of rounds four, five and six, leaving Vandermeulen, Minor and Pima Junior High’s Eliza Day.
It stayed a three-person contest until the 12th round, when Day was knocked out.
Vandermeulen was the first to misspell a word, heredity in the 14th round, but both Minor and Vandermeulen misspelled perilous in the 15th round to keep the contest going.
In the 20th round, Minor misspelled enzyme, giving Vandermeulen the opportunity to correctly spell enzyme and affable to win.
“A lot of times . . . they rush right through, they say any kind of combination of letters and you know they didn’t really know the word at all. These kids have practiced, and I’m so proud of them,” said Donna McGaughey, Superintendent of Schools for Graham County and organizer of the Spelling Bee.
Vandermeulen is qualified to participate in the Arizona Spelling Bee, March 19, at the Madison Arts Center in Phoenix.
“I’m going to do a lot of studying,” Vandermeulen said. “I’m very nervous for (the state bee), but I’m also very excited.”
The winner of the state bee will qualify for the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee, Memorial Day weekend, in National Harbor, Md.
