Springhill home schooler wins county spelling bee

By ERIN NICHOLES, Chronicle Staff Writer

Anna Rose Wright, 11, isn't quite sure what the word "gossamer" means.

But she can spell it.

"I just kind of knew it for some reason," she said.

Anna Rose won the title of Gallatin County's champion speller at the Willson Auditorium Saturday after correctly spelling "gossamer," which is "a fine filmy substance consisting of fragments or strands of a cobweb," according to the definition used by the judges.

It's the second year in a row that Anna Rose, who is home schooled and lives in the Springhill area, has won the countywide spelling bee.

She prevailed over 60 students from public and private schools in Bozeman, Manhattan, Willow Creek, Gallatin Gateway and Belgrade, as well as other home-schooled kids.

She will progress to the state spelling bee in Helena in April, along with second-place winner David Halat, 12, who attends the private Carden School in Bozeman. Third- and fourth-place winners were Rae Anne Friesenhahn, 13, and Laura Notess, 14, both eighth-graders at Chief Joseph Middle School.

Anna Rose said she relies on her faith and hard work to be a champion speller.

"I studied with my mom ... pretty much every day," she said.

Also, she enjoys reading, especially "The Black Stallion," series and "27 Leagues Under the Sea."

Home-schooled children often do well in spelling bees, said County Superintendent of Schools Mary Ellen Fitzgerald.

"Home schoolers have the time to study words for the bee," Fitzgerald said. "Next year what we're going to do is make sure that ... schools will have more of those resources available."

Fitzgerald said she was proud of all spellers at the bee, and is tickled that the Gallatin Valley will be represented at the state bee. Winners of the state bee progress to the national bee later this year.

"In all the years I've been working the bee we've only had two winners go to state," she said. "I'm excited that Anna Rose may win it."

Only one speller left with a champion's title Saturday, but all students who participated in the bee had the treat of meeting a local spelling celebrity.

Chrysti Smith -- better known as Chrysti the Wordsmith, a Bozeman woman who hosts a popular word show on public radio -- was the guest pronouncer at the county bee.

"That made it really fun," Linda Skelton, a county superintendent's employee. "She gave them a little taste of what she does for a living."

Erin Nicholes is at enicholes@dailychronicle.com

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