Kapa’a Middle School student Stephanie Kawamura was one of two Kaua’i students to compete in the 17th annual Honolulu Advertiser Spelling Bee held on Oahu last Saturday.
The other was Teague Blair, a seventh-grader at Kaua’i Christian Academy in Kilauea.
Kawamura made a good showing during the early rounds but faltered on the word “resilience.”
Jessica Palola, 13, of Ewa Beach, correctly spelled “genealogical” in the 15th round to win the contest.
She will now represent Hawai’i in the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C, in May. Palola was one of 14 students competing in the contest held the KHNL – TV studios.
Kawamura, a 7th-grader, did as well as she did because of the help she received from close friends and Rene Relacion, her English teacher, according to her father, Herbie Kawamura of Kilauea.
Kawamura has done well in school because of the support she received while attending Kilauea Elementary School, her father said.
“She always read a lot of books. She has had some good teachers who reinforced that. They were all so positive,” Kawamura said.
His daughter’s best subjects are English and spelling. Kawamura also loves baseball and competes in Little League games.
Blair, a resident of Princeville, also did well until the later rounds, but was eliminated when he failed to spell “lackadaisical.”
The school, in existence for 29 years, has produced other competitors for state spelling bees.
But Blair is the first student from the Kilauea school in recent years to participate in the contest, according to school principal Benjamin Radin.
Like Kawamura, Blair returned to Kaua’i with gifts from the sponsors of the event, including Sears, Island Heritage, Consolidated Theatres, Tesoro Hawaii, the Hawai’i Court Reporters Association and Anderson News Co.
TGI staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681, Ext. 225 or e-mail mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.
