Spelling Bees are not like other sports.  And yes, a Bee is considered a sport.  In most competitions, contestants get several chances: three strikes at bat, four downs in a drive, 10 frames in a game of bowling.   In a spelling bee, one mis-step and the contestant is out.  Perhaps that's one of the reasons the bees are so popular in our nation. We love a good competition, love to cheer for the underdog.  If you've ever had the pleasure (and agony) of watching a spelling bee, you know you can't help but feel the pain and anguish each speller feels every time they approach the microphone.    

So when 22 of Hancock County's best speller's came together on Valentine's Day to compete, tension could be seen and felt in most of the students' faces as well as the people who came out to support the contestants, as they waited for the Bee to begin. 

The spellers, a mix of 5th through 8th graders, took the stage at Central Auditorium and began the competition after words of instruction from Mr. Chris Brooks, who has organized and officiated the county Bee longer than even he can remember. (Our local Bee-watchers tell us that he's been doing this for at least 20 years).

Pronouncer Deb Benson, Communications instructor and Activities Director at Findlay High School, started by giving each speller a practice word as a warm up.  Spellers anxiously waited their turn, many fidgeting with the assigned number hanging around their neck.

15 Rounds later, 8th grader Leah Cramer from St. Michael the Archangel School emerged as the 2008 Hancock County Spelling Bee Champion.   By Round Eight, just three of the original 22 students were left: Cramer, 6th grader Megan Dailey from Liberty-Benton Middle School and 8th grade Glenwood Middle School student Keith Roberts.  Cramer and Dailey battled it out for 6 rounds before ventriloquist tripped up Megan.  Leah had to spell the missed word correctly, and then correctly spell mechanical, which she did with ease.

The top seven finalists now travel to the Toledo campus of Owens Community College in March to compete against finalists from 9 other counties in the Toledo Blade's Regional Bee.  The winner of the Regional Bee will compete in the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. in late May.

Good luck to all seven Hancock County Spellers!