Amanda Arenella sat in a chair alone on stage, swinging her dangling feet back and forth during the final round of the Iredell-Statesville Schools 2010 Spelling Bee on Wednesday morning.
After judges called Amanda to the microphone at the front of the stage in the South Iredell High School auditorium, I-SS director of public relations and spelling bee word pronouncer Dawn Creason gave the Lake Norman Elementary School fifth-grader her final word: contiguous.
"C-o-n-t-i-g-u-o-u-s, Amanda followed. "Contiguous."
Immediately after correctly spelling the word, the 10-year-old cupped her hands over her mouth to hide a big smile, and the audience erupted with applause.
Amanda was this year's spelling bee champion.
"I was like 'Oh my goodness, I can't believe this is really happening,' " an ecstatic Amanda said after the competition.
She was presented with a plaque by I-SS Superintendent Brady Johnson.
"It's an honor," Amanda said. "I studied every day."
Twenty-six students made it to the spelling bee's final competition after winning preliminary contests at their respective schools.
Wednesday's contest lasted six rounds, and students were asked to spell words such as "samaritan," "graffiti" and "giraffe."
Mt. Mourne IB School eighth-grader Anushri Adhia, 13, was the runner-up, and earned a medallion for her efforts.
"It feels fantastic," she said.
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