CARROLLTON, GA –  It took a grueling 15 final rounds between the two remaining competitors before the Carrollton City Schools 2019 Spelling Bee Champion was decided Tuesday afternoon – with seventh grader Rhet Walker ultimately crowned the winner.

The other finalist, eighth grader Zikera Watson, however, was a formidable challenger and will be the alternate speller at region if Rhet is unable to compete. Region will be held Saturday, Feb. 23, in Decatur. The local bee is sponsored by the Carrollton Association of Educators while the region and state bees are sponsored by the Georgia Association of Educators.

Last year’s system winner and state champion, Kyu Alegre, did not compete this year, even though he is just an eighth grader.  But that didn’t stop him from making an impact on the outcome of this year’s spelling bee. He was able to use his experience at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., last spring to achieve a goal he mentioned last year – to see what it would be like to be a spelling coach.

Fae Kelley, who has called the spelling bee for two decades, brought attention to Kyu’s contribution.

“This year students saw the possibility of making it to nationals,” said Kelley. “Thank Kyu for that. I feel they took real advantage of the words on the study list. The students showed real familiarity with most of them. Their only surprise was when they heard some of the actual pronunciations. A very cool spelling bee.”

Before the intense final rounds, a total of 10 grade-level winners and runners up competed. The other spellers were Tanya Aggarwal and Duncan St. John, fourth grade; Chris West and Rory Camp, fifth grade; Joselyn Chavez-Hernandez and Keallon Kennedy-Cook, sixth grade; Makailey Barber, seventh grade; and Tai Jackson, eighth grade.

Rhet’s win (and yes, there is only one “t” in his name) followed a slip of the tongue when Zikera mistakenly called out the letter “l” instead of “e” in the spelling of “electrolysis.” She immediately recognized her error and dropped her head indicating she knew she had been eliminated. Based on her success spelling much more difficult words prior to that one, however, she likely would have spelled the word correctly if she hadn’t made that mistake.

Rhet then had to spell two words correctly to claim the championship. And he pulled it off, correctly spelling “grenadier” (a soldier who is a member of a special corps or regiment) and the final word that provided a bit of irony to the situation – “diffidence” – an odd winning word for spellers who had the ability and confidence to take the 2019 bee to an intense level.

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Zikera Watson, runner up, and Rhet Walker, spelling champion, pose by a dictionary display in the Carrollton Junior High School Media Center. Last year’s winner, Kyu Alegre, said he had never opened a dictionary before, having always used online sources. CJHS Media Specialist Cathy Lawrence, who displays a Word of the Week every week, encourages students to try to look up words the “old school” way.