National spelling bee run ends for Dennis in 6th round

The Scripps National Spelling Bee competition ended for Columbiana County Spelling Champion Shaylynn Dennis on Wednesday afternoon, but not before she possibly made history.

The 14-year-old Beaver Local eighth grader's run into the semifinals may be the farthest any speller from the county has gone on the national stage, according to county spelling bee coordinator Marie Williams.

She finished tied for 22nd place as a semifinalist and will receive a commemorative medal and a $500 gift card from the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

"I think she's fantastic. It's been exciting to watch," Williams said.

When contacted by phone, Shaylynn said the biggest takeaway from the national spelling bee for her was "being confident on stage. You can think so much better when you're not nervous."

She called the experience a good one, saying it's really helped her gain more confidence and increased her reading and writing skills.

"It teaches you how to deal with disappointment in a good way," she said.

During her time at the national bee in Washington, D.C., she's received multiple texts from her teachers and friends.

"I'm really grateful for all the support," she said.

Her family has been with her every step of the way and very supportive, with her mom and dad, Dave and Amanda, and her younger brothers, 11-year-old Lucas and 7-year-old Logan, traveling with her.

"I am so proud of her. She has just done absolutely amazing," Amanda said. "We've watched her work so hard and watched her study so many hours over the last two years. Amazing."

This was a return trip for Shaylynn because she repeated as county champion this year. She won the county bee last year, going to the national bee for the first time, where she lasted into the third round and tied for 89th place.

During the preliminary competition on Tuesday, she correctly spelled "pruritus" in Round 1 and correctly identified the word meaning of "cattalo" in Round 2, which is a hybrid between the American bison and domestic cow.

In Round 3, she correctly spelled "compathy" after asking for all the information possible and asking questions about the root, with a bee official telling her she was on the right track.

On Wednesday morning in the quarterfinals, she correctly spelled "minometer" in Round 4 and in Round 5, a word meaning round, she correctly identified "emanation" as "a flowing forth."

With that success, she qualified for the semifinals, which began live at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. She was one of only two Ohio spellers to make it that far. The semifinals aired live on the streaming platform ION Plus, with the semifinals also airing on ION at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

In Round 6 of the semifinals, Shaylynn incorrectly spelled the word "incretory" by putting an "a" where the "o" should have been, ending her spelling career. She said she was a little disappointed because she had seen the word before, but said the definition threw her off. All in all, though, she said her bee experience was good.

Each speller eliminated in the semifinals heard some words of encouragement from Scripps National Spelling Bee head judge Mary Brooks, which Shaylynn said was nice.

"You have really had two strong appearances at the bee," Brooks told her, making note of her intention to go into medicine. "We know you're on to big things."

For the rest of the trip, she plans to relax and said she's going to watch the finals. She said everybody who's there deserves to be there. She said she's talked to quite a few other spellers and everybody was really nice.

Shaylynn offered her thanks to her family, her teachers, her friends, the Columbiana County Educational Service Center and the three newspapers in the county, the Salem News, the Morning Journal and East Liverpool Review.

Williams, who believes Shaylynn went the farthest in the national bee out of all the county champions she could remember, serves as assistant superintendent of the county ESC, which coordinates the county spelling bee and co-sponsors the event with the three newspapers every March.

The newspapers paid for the trip to Washington, D.C. for Shaylynn and one chaperone.

Shaylynn also had special thanks for a handful of Beaver Local teachers, specifically band director and bee coordinator Matt Newman, algebra/math teacher Beth Barber, language arts teacher Veronica Hall, American history teacher Jason Congo and science teacher William Grischow.

After Round 7 of the national bee on Wednesday, which was a word meaning round, 20 spellers remained, then spelled again in Round 8, with 11 advancing to compete in the finals, which will be aired live beginning at 8 p.m. today on ION.

At stake is the Scripps Cup, a commemorative medal and a $50,000 cash prize. To learn more, visit spellingbee.com.

mgreier@mojonews.com