Can You Spell Huckster? Students Compete in Spelling Bee

Nearly 100 spellbound students are contending for the championship starting Thursday at Liberty Station in the 49th annual UT San Diego Countywide Spelling Bee.Word wizards from grades 6 to 8 that attend public and independent schools across San Diego County are vying for a spot in the National Spelling Competition, said an event spokesperson. ‘Enough Is Enough’: San Diego Students Join US Walkout [[476989743,C]]Before noon, students had already grappled with unusual words like “menhaden,” “cynosure,” “balalaika,” “springerle,” “ersatz,” “topeng” and “huckster.” Images: San Diego Schools Partake in National Walkout At the competition, these plucky middle-schoolers will demonstrate skills that harken back to an age preceding Google and autocorrect, said the spokesperson. They painstakingly master complex spellings, despite living in a world of tweets, emojis and hashtags.[[476989823,C]] ‘Proud’: Local Parents, Teachers Support Student Walkouts Stan Master, a 2005 California Teacher of the Year and retired San Diego High School teacher will serve as the head bee judge, and Dr. Timothy Randell will serve as the Bee Master.County officials are also live tweeting the event so word fanatics can follow along with the spelling bee. Dedicated orthographers show how important spelling still is, said the spokesperson.In May, the Scripps National Spelling Bee will be held near Washington, D.C.Photo Credit: NBC 7 San Diego This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.
Source: NBC San Diego