Editor's Note: Keep reading; we will have updates from more North Okaloosa County schools, leading up to next month's countywide spelling competition.
CRESTVIEW — Riverside Elementary School is sending fifth-graders Gavin Davis and Ashley Cumberland to Okaloosa County's portion of the 2014-2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The students, first and second place, respectively, will represent the school at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 4 in the Fort Walton Beach High School auditorium, 400 Hollywood Blvd SW.
Riverside's first set of spelling bees began in October, when each class held individual contests. Winning third- through fifth-graders proceeded to three grade-level spelling bees Nov. 5. Each grade's top three winners then participated in the Nov. 12 school-wide contest.
Davis correctly spelled the word surrogate to win first place Nov. 12. He said, "When I walked up to the microphone, my heart was racing like it was driving in NASCAR."
Cumberland spelled "berserk" correctly to secure second place. "Going up against eighth-graders in the OCSD Spelling Bee is nerve racking, but a fifth-grader won last year, and I am sure I can help make that happen again!” she said.
Third-grader Desiree Zalewski spelled edification correctly, but came in third by misspelling Goliath.
"At each grade-level spelling bee, we started with the grade-level words, but progressed through those words plus two grade levels above," Riverside Talented and Gifted Program teacher Gail Smith stated in an email. "In other words, the third-grade students spelled words up to fifth grade before we had a first- through third-place winner. Fourth-grade (students) spelled up to the sixth-grade-level words and fifth-grade (students) spelled up to the seventh-grade-level words."
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an annual competition where fourth through eighth-graders compete to be the U.S. spelling champion.
Okaloosa County contestants could advance to the regional finals in Tallahassee in February 2015, and maybe the state finals. The entire event for this year culminates the week of May 24-29.
Email Editorial Assistant Renee Bell, follow her on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Riverside's Davis, Cumberland named spelling bee finalists