Spring Harbor sixth-grader uses 'thesaurus' to win Madison spelling bee

George Hesselberg:

In an epic spelling smackdown, a stoic Aisha Khan of Spring Harbor Middle School went affinity-to-thesaurus against sparkly Lydia Anderson of Whitehorse Middle School in the Madison All-City Spelling Bee.

After 224 words and three tense hours eliminated 45 other competitors Saturday, Lydia stumbled on "kruller," and Aisha calmly, slowly and correctly spelled it "cruller," followed by "thesaurus" to seal the match in the Anderson Auditorium at Edgewood College. Only then did the quiet sixth-grader permit herself her first smile of the morning.

Aisha, 11, who according to father Abdul Khader Patan "always seems to be reading a book," gets to test that calm March 10 in the Badger State Spelling Bee.

To Lydia, who is the alternate, mom Cindy promised to buy her a cruller on the way home.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at February 14, 2012 1:48 AM
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