Seventh-grader Esme Filippo of Orland correctly spelled “domesticity” to win the Maine State Spelling Bee on Saturday.
The student at The Bay School, a private Waldorf school in Blue Hill, claimed a place in the national spelling bee after winning a four-round duel with runner-up Addie Rosato of Cape Elizabeth Middle School. Fillippo spelled capstan, agate, stegosaur and pinnate before clinching the contest with her final word.
Students from 14 of Maine’s 16 counties won spots in the statewide spelling bee, which was sponsored by the Maine Trust for Local News, the publisher of the Portland Press Herald and sister papers. The contest was held at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is in its 100th year. There has only been one champion from Maine, and that student won in 1934. This year’s winner will take home a $50,000 prize.
