Eastman competes at Maine State Spelling Bee

    PORTLAND — Phoenix Eastman, a sixth-grader at SeDoMoCha Middle School in Dover-Foxcroft, was among the 15 students taking part in the 2013 Maine State Spelling Bee March 30 at the University of Southern Maine’s Hannaford Lecture Hall.

Eastman

    Eastman took part in the Maine State Spelling Bee, which was organized by MaineToday Media, as Piscataquis County’s representative; earlier this year he won the county-level competition at SeDoMoCha Middle School. By qualifying for the March 30 bee Eastman and the other finalists received a Kindle electronic book reader and $25 gift certificate for electronic books along with a water bottle.
    Twelve-year-old Brandon Aponte, a homeschooled student from the town of Brooklin in Hancock County, won the Maine State Spelling Bee after he and eighth-grader Nat Jordan from Cape Elizabeth Middle School spent the final hour of the four hours of competition locked in a spell-off. Aponte’s winning word was crambo — which is a type of rhyming word game — and he qualified for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in late May.
    In 2012 Jordan and Aponte were the last two spellers, and Jordan ended up winning the state crown.