KANSAS CITY, Mo — Dolomite, a type of Limestone rock. That's the word that helped Arden Peterson of Leawood, Kansas, win the Jackson-Clay County spelling bee earlier this year, advancing her to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in our nation's capital.
The Forerunner Christian Academy seventh grader said she had never seen the word before, so she asked for the main and alternate pronunciation. That allowed her to compare the two and figure out how to spell it. She said that's one of the tricks she uses to figure out how to spell a word she doesn't know.
"So if you ask the language of origin, you can know a couple of the traits that will help you be able to figure the word out," Peterson said.
During the competition, Peterson said she was very nervous at the beginning, but relaxed more in the final rounds, because there was less competition.
"I also just prayed that God's will would be done and he would just give me peace to do it," Peterson said.
Peterson will need to find that peace when she heads to finals in Washington D.C. next week. The first stage of the competition is the written test.
"I'm hoping I'll pass the written test. I may not. But I'm studying and hoping to," Peterson said.
In preparation for the spelling bee, Peterson's mother has been quizzing her on SAT lists and she has been studying up on roots, suffixes and prefixes. She is trying to keep a positive outlook on the entire thing.
"I guess I don't need to be that worried, because there's almost no chance I'll make a perfect score," said Peterson. "I just need to try my best."
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