Sisters student wins at regional spelling bee

A Sisters Middle School student walked away with a win and a $1,000 prize in the Third Annual Central Oregon Regional Spelling Bee last Saturday.

Adam Cash, a 2006 winner, took top honors as other Sisters students turned in strong performances.

Cash and Jordan Rudinsky, who were both returning Regional Spelling Bee veterans, represented the 6-8 graders at Sisters Middle School (SMS). Rudinsky took the honors in 2005.

This year, Rudinsky was eliminated with a misplaced letter "h" in the word "piranha," while Cash continued onward into the final round against Kyle VanGordon from Realms Middle School.

When VanGordon misspelled the word "perpendicular," Rudinsky correctly spelled it for the win. This is an unprecedented third victory for SMS spellers. Later this spring SMS spellers will compete in the Bend Bulletin sponsored Scripps National Spelling Bee, where the regional winner competes with the nation's best spellers in Washington, D.C.

Sisters schools were well represented this year at the Central Oregon Regional Spelling Bee. Representing kindergarten through third grade from Sisters Elementary School were Ellie Chandler and Hailey Robella. Representing the fourth and fifth grade classes were Molly Boyle and Emily Christen. Also competing in the fourth and fifth grade category from Sisters Christian Academy was MacKenzie Ehr.

All performed very well against the region's best spellers.

Cash collects his second $1,000 savings bond, which was presented by Community First Bank, Trimble and Everton CPA, Century Insurance Group and Horizon Broadcasting Group. Cash also qualifies for the Oregon State Spelling Bee Championship held at the Oregon State Fair in July. At the state championship last summer, Adam weathered over half of the contestants and was eliminated only after the seventh round. And, as a sixth grader last year, Adam was one of the two youngest competitors at the state championship.

After this year's event, Cash said, "I'm really glad Dr. Miner (SMS Principal) made sure we could participate again this year. Everyone's been working hard to improve with each opportunity."

More than 60 students qualified for the Third Annual Central Oregon Regional Spelling Bee by beating out their classmates from schools in the Bend-La Pine, Redmond, Crook County, Sisters and Jefferson County School Districts.

Adam is the son of Julie and Brian Cash of Sisters.