Roxboro's Rohan Bruce is runner-up in county spelling bee

Rohan Bruce holds her county spelling bee trophy.

On March 5, Rohan Bruce, a Roxboro Middle School eighth-grader, competed in the Cuyahoga County Spelling Bee.

Bruce finished as runner-up (second place) out of the 44 seventh- and eighth-graders who competed for the opportunity to represent Cuyahoga County at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in late May. She won a trophy and $100.

Andrew France, a homeschooled student from Chagrin Falls, won—for the second year in a row—but not before Bruce showed him some serious competition. The two went head-to-head in the last 10 rounds.

In 24 rounds of spelling, Bruce correctly spelled fickle, tatami, filament, libretto, magnanimous, babka, charpoy, gauche, bezoar, ameliorate, pacifism, adrenal, dyspeptic, fulminating, histamine, malefactor, proletariat, submersible, sanguinary, epitaphs and nymphish. She was stumped by mousseline and impetigo. France misspelled mimetic in round 19, but won in round 24 by correctly spelling abecedarius.

Beth Woodside

Beth Woodside is a violinist with the Cleveland Orchestra, and is on the violin faculty of The Music School Settlement. She is a Reaching Heights board member and Roxboro Middle School spelling bee coordinator.

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Volume 9, Issue 4, Posted 9:57 AM, 03.22.2016