Mohawk Avenue's Conner Claffey takes spelling bee crown

Sparta - L-o-q-u-a-c-i-o-u-s, loquacious. That was one of the words 36 fifth-graders from the Sparta area had to face during the 12th annual Spelling Bee competition sponsored by the Sparta Junior Woman’s Club. The competition, held Saturday Jan. 28 at the Sparta Ambulance building, included 26 students from Mohawk Avenue School, four from Reverend Brown and six from Hilltop Country Day School. In less than 45 minutes, the number of spellers had dwindled to six finalists and a winner was crowned in under an hour. With the word “structure” Conner Claffey captured the title, after “elbowed” stumped his opponent, Jerry Calderone. “We have never had the spelling bee end in such a short period of time. The words this year were much harder than in previous years. I think the children are just getting smarter and smarter so the list had to get harder,” said Lisa Lake, president of the Sparta Junior Woman’s Club and one of the judges. Claffey and Calderone, both students at Mohawk Avenue School, and third place winner Frank Moody from Reverend Brown School, now advance to the district spelling bee to be held Sunday, Feb. 5 at the Sparta Ambulance building. The first, second and third place winners from that event will attend the State Spelling Bee competition to be held on March 19 in New Brunswick “These kids study so hard and really feel a sense of accomplishment. They feel like big winners just being asked to participate. Just being picked is pretty amazing, it is such an honor as they’re a part of such a small percentage of those who were chosen,” said Lake. “There’s no down side to this event. It makes me excited to see them trying to better themselves and they feel they’ve accomplished something in the end.”