Orcas Island’s brightest spelling stars competed during the 2011 Orcas Island All Schools Spelling Bee on March 18 at the Orcas Christian School Gymnasium.

Students from Orcas Elementary, Orcas Middle School, OASIS, Spring Street International School, and Orcas Christian School participated. Sixth grader Maddy Hance from Spring Street School won the competition. Her final word was “karma.” She took home a trophy and an Apple iPad.

“This is amazing,” Hance said. “Last year, I came in third and this year I am first. Oh my gosh.”

The first round began at a good clip, with 25 contestants plying words like “filibuster,” “autobahn,” “vulcanize” and “plateau.” Seventeen students made it through round two, featuring “glasnost,” “poinsettia” and “sputnik,” while a lengthy etymological explanation of the origins of “peccadillo” got the audience tittering. Some students did well by tracing out the letters of each word on their palms before spelling the word.

Round three was a doozy, with “triumvirate,” “asthmogenic,” “bequeath” and “wiseacre.” The 10 contestants who successfully navigated the round were: Orcas Elementary School 4th graders Evelyn Hance and Joe Riegel; Orcas Middle School 7th graders Julianna Rose and Anthony Kaskurs; Orcas Christian School 5th grader Violet Sturk, 6th grader Stephanie Harris and 8th grader Mara Nutt; OASIS 4th grader Esther Derr (who lives in Gig Harbor) and 6th grader Christian Bailey; and Maddy Hance. All 10 completed round four perfectly, but began dropping out at tough nuts like “poltergeist” and “symbiosis.”

And then there were five. Round eight contestants were: Hance, Bailey, Sturk, Harris and Kaskurs, who cruised steadily through several more impressive rounds before Maddy finally clinched the win with “karma.” The event was well attended by supportive parents, teachers and fellow students.