Can you spell “aspirin?” “Fracas?” “Parallel?” Well, that’s just Level 1…
…In Level 2 you’ll be faced with “baccalaureate,” “anachronism,” and “eczema.”

Yesterday 25 kids in grades 4-6 competed for the title of spelling champ of southern Marin. Champions from nine schools — Bel Aire, Del Mar, Edna Maguire, Hidden Valley, Mount Tamalpais, Old Mill, Park, Strawberry Point, and Tamalpais Valley– duked it out for two and a half hours on the stage at Old Mill School.

After two hours the contest was down to a duel. Julian Reiss (Edna Maguire 5) and Jack O’Neill (Del Mar 6) powered through both Level 1 and Level 2 words, so the competition moved on to the dictionary. Finally the clock struck 6:00pm and “plethora” — from Ancient Greek πληθώρη (plēthōrē, “fullness”) — gave first place to Jack.

The final six will go on to represent southern Marin in Saturday’s county-wide final. They are Adam Guggenheim (Edna Maguire 5), Morgan Hunt (Del Mar 6), Maya Meckley (Tamalpais Valley 4), Lyla Kirkpatrick (Mount Tamalpais 6), and Julian & Jack. Good luck!

Hearty congratulations to the top finishers and to all the contestants, half of whom were only in 4th grade and have years of competition ahead.

More info on this and other County competitions here.

UPDATE 11/2/2013: Hooray for southern Marin! The county-wide championship went to Jack O’Neill (Del Mar 6), with Flora Epstein (Davidson 6) taking second place. The winning word was “sentient.” The top five were rounded out by #3 Morgan Hunt (Del Mar 6), #4 Elise Jonas-Delson (Sinaloa 6), and #5 Audrey Dickinson (Ross 6).