Jake Quesse wins spelling bee

PRINCETON — The traveling trophy for the Bureau County Spelling Bee has landed at DePue Elementary School, thanks to seventh-grader Jake Quesse.

On Tuesday, Jake outlasted 23 other contestants in the 2010 Bureau County Spelling Bee to win first place, edging out runner-up Luke Lee-Brown, a seventh-grader at Ladd Grade School.

To clinch the spelling champ title, Jake correctly spelled the word “necessary,” which had been misspelled by Luke, and then went on to correctly spell the word “predicate.”

The annual county spelling bee, which was held at the Bureau County Metro Center in Princeton, is co-sponsored by the Peoria Journal Star newspaper and the Regional Office of Education. ROE representative Chips Giovanine presented the winning plaques and certificates to Jake and Luke.

Following Tuesday’s bee, Jake said he put in a lot of time studying for the spelling bee. After winning his school’s seventh-grade bee a week ago, his teacher gave him a 32-page booklet of spelling words, which he has studied every night for an hour and for two hours Monday night. Though he studied some on his own, his parents, Scott and Tami Quesse, helped him a lot, Jake said.

Jake credits his good spelling skills to lots of studying and lots of reading.

As a seventh-grader, Jake could also compete next year as an eighth-grader in the 2011  Bureau County Spelling Bee. That’s definitely something he’d like to do, he said.

As winner of Tuesday’s county spelling bee, Jake will compete March 19 in the 50th annual Journal Star Central Illinois Grand Final Spelling Bee.

Other schools and contestants participating in Tuesday’s spelling bee were:

• Bureau Valley: Lacey DeVenney, eighth grade, and Sabrina Johnson, eighth grade.

• Cherry: Samantha Manahan, eighth grade, and Morgan Mills, seventh grade.

• Dalzell: Tawny Robertson, eighth grade, and Abbey Azarskis, seventh grade.

• DePue: Jesse Lopez, eighth grade.

• Ladd: Ashley Keegan, eighth grade.

• LaMoille: Alexis Beard, eighth grade, and Rachel Cessna, seventh grade.

• Malden: Danielle Spevak, seventh grade, and Bradley Bickett, seventh grade.

• Neponset: Kaitlyn McCurdy, eighth grade, and Mike Schwickerath, seventh grade.

• Ohio: Jessica Byrd, eighth grade, and Josh Ohnen, eighth grade.