MacKenzie Gould will represent Harrison County in the Exponent-Telegram Regional Spelling Bee, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 18 at Bridgeport Conference Center.

 

The Bridgeport Middle School sixth grader earned the chance to compete in Wednesday’s event by capturing the Harrison County Spelling Bee victory in January.

 

After going several rounds with 21 top-notch spellers from across the county – all who won at their respective elementary and middle schools, including private schools and home-based learning environments – MacKenzie ultimately nabbed the county title by correctly spelling the words “postmortem” and “tomatillo.”

 

Now she starts all over.

 

“They will all start fresh – on an even playing field,” said Heidi Griffith, secondary curriculum coordinator for Harrison County Schools.

 

Even though she will be competing with seventh and eighth graders, MacKenzie said she is ready for the challenge.

 

“I’m nervous and excited,” she said. “Every day, I keep studying.”

 

The spelling bee system utilizes a list of words generated by Scripps National. From the school level – clear to the national level, the list just gets longer and more intense. On the county level, she studied over 1,000 words, which included “synecdoche” and “knadel,” a type of figurative speech and a German dumpling, respectively.

 

“Each time, there are newer and harder words,” said MacKenzie, who can be found studying at home in the evenings, in the car on the way to school – and any other opportunity she gets.  

 

“Most days I study one to two hours and since we’re really close to (the regional spelling bee), I put in as much time as I can,” she said. “Even if we’re out to dinner and my dad can get the Web site on his phone, he gives me words.”

 

Preparing includes more than memorization. It's an overall study and understanding of the words. MacKenzie has picked up some important study tips which help her not only spell words correctly Wednesday, but also develop good spelling habits for years to come. For example, Greek words have very few “Fs.”

 

“Being familiar with those language rules really helps, she said.

 

Continuing to advance is pretty important to MacKenzie, who has participated in the spelling bee since fourth grade.

 

“I just didn’t put as much effort into it back then, so in sixth grade, I decided I wanted to make it part of my life – so that’s why I’m here,” she said.

 

MacKenzie is the daughter of Tracy and T. Keith Gould of Bridgeport. Tracy Grould attributes her daughter’s success to drive and determination. She displayed those same qualities in the recent Civic Oration Contest, in which she took second place, Tracy Gould said.

 

Regardless of whether she wins the regionals, MacKenzie said she has benefited from her spelling bee journey. For one thing, her own personal vocabulary has greatly increased.

 

“When I started out, I came across a lot of words I didn’t know and had never heard of, but now I come across them in everyday life,” she said.

 

That, she said, will also come in handy when Westest and other assessment tests roll around.

 

MacKenzie is a member of the Bridgeport Middle School Danceline and continues to take both dance and tennis lessons, all which keeps her quite busy. Still, she has been so into the spelling bee scene that she has looked up past winners of the National Spelling Bee and read their interviews. She has also learned that some very successful professionals, including doctors, were once spelling bee winners.

 

She has her eye on becoming a physician one day; perhaps a neurologist. And, yes, she can spell that too.

 

The public is invited to attend Wednesday evening’s Regional Spelling Bee, Griffith said. 

 

Read a story about the county spelling bee HERE. 

 

Editor's note: MacKenzie is pictured just above with Dr. Mark Manchin, superintendent of Harrison County Schools, following the Harrison County Spelling Bee.