S-U-F-F-I-C-I-E-N-T-L-Y

PALMER — Sufficiently. S-U-F-F-I-C-I-E-N-T-L-Y. 7th grader Jonathan Aliberti sufficiently spelled enough words correctly to be named the PJMS Spelling Bee Champion of 2018, and will head to the State Spelling Bee March 29 in Anchorage.

Aliberti beat out an entire school of spellers, which is unique to the PJMS Bee. Linda Jo Klapperich runs the bee with the help of her daughter, 2017 Miss Alaska Angelina Klapperich. Linda Jo has been running bees for 20 years, but says she could not do it without the help of her daughter.

The Klapperiches helped out at other spelling bees, but the one she runs at her home school of PJMS is the only one in the school district that allows the entire school to participate. Macey Erickson was the last sixth grader standing. She went out on ‘taciturn’ in the tenth round, and took 9th place school-wide. By the end of the tenth round, there were as many 7th graders left standing as there were 8th graders. With a library full of students watching and spelling along with the contestants, excitement was high in anticipation of naming a new Spelling Bee Champion. Last year’s champion took third place, leaving Aliberti and one other contestant.

In round 15, Aliberti had a chance to clinch, but misspelled ‘ostensible’. When his challenger failed to spell glycogen correctly, Aliberti spelled centrifugal and sufficiently correct to win the Palmer Junior Middle School Spelling Bee and confirm his spot at the Alaska State Spelling Bee on March 29 in Anchorage.

Aliberti has a methodical style. After writing the possible spellings of the word he’s been tasked with on a dry erase board, he picks the best possible option and slowly delivers the letters like a spelling robot, not changing his tone or volume from letter to letter. Many others race through words, confident in their own ability to remember what letter they are on.

Aliberti’s challenger, Callahan, asks if there are alternate pronunciations to every word he is given. Callahan’s quickly moves through the words, but is sure that he has not missed anything that may trip him up before he starts. Ultimately, you cannot know every single word. Callahan stumbled on ‘petulant’ before being ousted on glycogen. He said he had never heard of glycogen before.

“[Spelling Bees] are not my main thing. We had to sign up for leadership class. I had fun,” said Callahan. His favorite books are the Mortal Instrument series by Cassandra Clare.

Palmer Spelling Bee’s have been a Klapperich production for decades, but with the help of Angelina, reigning Miss Alaska and Miss Congeniality at the Miss USA pageant, it all goes off without a hitch. Linda Jo battled a hoarse voice with cough drops. She says she’s not sick, she’s just been spelling words all day. Angelina helped with pronunciations and countries of origin, but lauds the work of Linda Jo.

“She’s the queen bee,” said Angelina.

While competition drives the spelling bee, camaraderie supports it. No speller gets a word wrong without receiving a round of applause for their efforts. Grant Keyes, an 8th grader, takes pride in the genuine community of spellers.

“Even if you get out you will not be left feeling like you lost,” said Keyes.

Aliberti spelled quantitative, stimulus, mandible, incumbency, delinquency, and synthesizer correctly on his way to the school championship. He said he got 2nd place in 5th grade, but he was happy to win. After winning, he was going right back to spelling.

“I’m probably going to take a quiz,” said Aliberti.