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Abby Hardin wins Burke County Spelling Bee

By Steve Welker | The News Herald

Published: October 12, 2009

Morganton, NC - Thirteen-year-old Abby Hardin had one last chance to win the Burke County Spelling Bee before she aged out of the competition.
On her third try in four years, the eighth-grade student from Liberty Middle School won the first-place trophy on Monday by correctly spelling "helmet" and "diagnose" in the spelling bee's 13th round at Patton High School's auditorium.
Dylan Pope, 8, a fourth-grade student at Forest Hill Elementary and the son of Ted and Laura Pope, finished second.
Coming in third was Samah Malik, a fifth-grader at Rutherford College Elementary and the daughter of Syed Malik and Shazia Siddiqui.
Hardin, the daughter of Mark and Cathy Hardin, also competed in the spelling bee as a fifth- and sixth-grade student when she finished fourth and was eliminated in the first round, respectively.
Hardin admitted she was nervous through the opening rounds Monday, especially after eight of the 21 contestants were eliminated in the first round.
While the seats on stage emptied after misspelled words narrowed the field to five following the seventh round, Hardin said her confidence grew.
The three finalists made it together through the 11th and 12th rounds before Malik misspelled "fogginess" and Pope misheard "cavernous," spelling it as "caverns."
Hardin easily spelled her final two words and almost seemed shocked when the audience broke into loud applause.
Both Hardin and Pope said they're avid readers. She likes novels; he likes chapter books.
Hardin's parents said their daughter has a large vocabulary due to her reading — something that helped her score a 1,500 total on the SAT test she took in the seventh grade.
Burke County Public Schools organizes the annual competition that begins with spelling bees in the elementary and middle schools. Competitors may come from the fourth through eighth grades.
The schools and their 2009-10 champions' names, grades and parents are:
Chesterfield: Destiny Dean, fifth, Savannah Dean.
East Burke Middle: Eric Fox, seventh, Lisa Davis.
Forest Hill: Dylan Pope, fourth, Ted and Laura Pope.
George Hildebrand: Cameron Wade, fifth, Brian and Anita Wade.
Glen Alpine: Railey Pitts, fifth, Douglas and Susan Pitts.
Hallyburton: Peyton Chavis, fifth, Rick and Beth Chavis.
Heritage Middle: Brandy Lowman, sixth, Pam Williams.
Hildebran: Tristan Dehaven, fifth, Patricia Dehaven.
Hillcrest: Jon Hall, fifth, Nicholas and Dorian Arndt.
Icard: Brandon Sisk, fifth, Rick and Rhonda Sisk.
Liberty Middle: Abby Hardin, eighth, Mark and Cathy Hardin.
Mountain View: Kassidy Smith, fifth, Dorothea and Bobby Smith.
Mull: Connor Larmore, fifth, Nicky Chatman and Jamie Larmore.
Oak Hill: Candice Kelly, fourth, Diane Ledford and Garrett Kelly.
Ray Childers: Parker Killian, fourth, Cathy and Bobby Lewis.
Rutherford College: Samah Malik, fifth, Syed Malik and Shazia Siddiqui.
Salem: Annie Odom, fourth, Richard and Regina Odom.
Table Rock Middle: Jimmy Xiong, eighth, Pao Xiong and Mai Vang.
Valdese: Tyler Delay, fourth, Cheryl Weaver.
W. A. Young: Abby Hamilton, fourth, Christina and Gary Hamilton.
Walter R. Johnson: Elizabeth Williams, seventh, David and Sarah Williams.
Betty Terrell, director of secondary education, emceed the event held for the first time at Patton High's auditorium. Her assistant, Linda Huffman, coordinated many of the arrangements. Deborah Carpenter, director of gifted education, presented the rules. Former newspaper editor Bill Poteat, now an English teacher at Draughn High School, was the pronouncer. The judges were chief judge Carolyn Icard, an instructional coach; David McGee, director of student accountability; and The News Herald's managing editor.
Schools Superintendent Dr. Art Stellar; Associate Superintendent Rick Sherrill; Director of Elementary Education Kim Rudisill; Carpenter; Terrell; and school board Chair Tracy Norman presented the medals, certificates and trophies.
The News Herald sponsors the annual spelling bee.