Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CMI staff photo: Benna SayyedClovis Christian Fourth-grader Ariel Kokoricha won the Curry County Scripps Spelling Bee. The winning word was strudel. Kokoricha's mother said Ariel reads on a 10th- to 12th-grade level.
Clovis Christian School fourth-grader Ariel Kokoricha spelled high-school level words with confidence Friday at the Curry County spelling bee.
It earned Kokoricha the title of Curry County Scripps Spelling Bee champion, Her winning word was "strudel."
Kokoricha and 23 others from eight schools across the county competed for the title and a chance to advance to state finals March 23 in Albuquerque.
A panel of three judges wrote down each letter as students spelled words and then compared students' version to the correct spelling. Students were eliminated if they misspelled.
CMI staff photo: Benna Sayyed
Clovis Christian Fourth-grader Ariel Kokoricha won the Curry County Scripps Spelling Bee. The winning word was strudel. Kokoricha's mother said Ariel reads on a 10th- to 12th-grade level.
After a short practice round of elementary-level words, the competition kicked off. Each time, the speller's voice was about the only sound that could be heard as students attempted words such as dungaree, pangolin, hors d'oeuvre and transience.
Other words included sentient, taciturn, paucity, salubrious and rupee.
Kokoricha said she didn't find any part of the contest challenging in particular.
"I joined because I wanted to win," said Kokoricha, who wants to become a doctor, a teacher and a writer. "It feels great to be the winner."
Oyin Kokoricha, Ariel's mother, said her daughter's interest in spelling developed out of her love for reading mystery, fiction and fantasy books.
Oyin said one of the first words Ariel learned to spell at age 4 was beautiful.
"I remember telling her, 'you're beautiful,'" Oyin said.
"She said, "I'm not only beautiful, I'm smart, too.'"
Oyin said Ariel and her sister Ailsa prefer reading Kindle e-books to watching TV or playing video games.
"We have cable, iTunes and iPads, but they just like to read," Oyin said, laughing.
"So that's my challenge, finding a good book for an 8 and 9-year-old that is not too socially advanced for their age."
Oyin said Ariel reads on a 10th- to 12th-grade level.
Ariel's victory in the county spelling bee will place her in the statewide spelling bee in Albuquerque for the second year. The state spelling bee is at Sandia Preparatory School in Albuquerque.
