Mediaboss Marketing

"Compress."

It means, "to press together; force into less space," "to cause to become a solid mass" and "to condense, shorten, or abbreviate," according to dictionary.com

But for Lily Parker, fifth-grader at Eisenhower Elementary School, the word meant she was the spelling bee champion of her school Thursday.

Parker was one of 13 fifth-graders who voluntarily participated in the school's annual spelling bee. The winner of any participating schools in the area will then advance to the McPherson County Spelling Bee, going head-to-head with other school champions Jan. 26. County schools rotate hosting, and it is Eisenhower's turn this year.

Words and definitions are given by Scripps, a national spelling bee association.

Eisenhower's bee lasted six rounds, beginning with the word "remarkable." Three participants were eliminated in rounds one and two, and two students were out in the third.

By round four, only five contestants remained, all of which were girls. Three of these were Taylor Bruce, Heather Schimming and Ella Eaton, all of whom were eliminated before the battle for first in the sixth round.

Then there were two.

Josie Strathman successfully advanced "experiment," and Parker answered with "substitute." It would be "remedial" that spelled disaster for Strathman, which allowed Parker to take the upper hand with "villa." Parker was then required to successfully spell one more word, "compress," which allowed her to finish on top.

Parker said she practiced for the spelling bee but was not confident going into the competition. "I was really scared," she said. "I didn't want to put myself through the doubt of loosing. But I feel really good now that I've tried something new."

Read more from the original source:
Eisenhower students compete for spelling honors