Miss Wooten's G-O-I-N-G to Washington

By Joel Frady

"Patronymic."

14-year-old Anna Wooten, an eighth grader at Ashe County Middle School, had never heard this word before it was announced as her question at the regional spelling bee held in Winston-Salem on Thursday, March 22,

but she knew not to panic. Years of reading had expanded her vocabulary and theater experience had given her experience with stage fright, so with the title on the line, Wooten stuck to her game plan: remember the study rules and the roots.

She figured it out and spelled the word correctly, winning the regional bee and earning a trip to compete in the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. on May 26-28.

"I'm really excited," Wooten said. "I didn't think I'd get this far."

The regional victory comes after years of competition for Wooten, who has won her grade for the last five years. She has won the spelling bee at ACMS two consecutive years, but failed to get past the county bee in 2008.

Wooten said she likes to read, which is "probably how I know so many words already." She added that her favorite books are the Harry Potter and Twilight series, but she also enjoys many classics because "you can still relate to them, even in these times."

For the moment, however, she'll be concentrating on a different book: the 12-pound dictionary she was given, along with study guides and a consolidated word list.

Wooten has acted with the Ashe County Little Theater in The Sound of Music and The Music Man and she feels that her stage experience helped her in Winston-Salem.

"A little bit of nerves can help you stay focused," she said. She noted that "having a little bit of stage fright is good, but shaking to your core and being so nervous that you're about to faint doesn't help you any."

And though she has "never been before that big of an audience before," she aims to "stay calm, stay cool."

Sherrie Hines, Wooten's math teacher, described her as "just a fantastic kid all around.

"She's one of those students that you dream about having," said Hines. "Had I been sitting up there at her age, I would have been so nervous I wouldn't have gotten a single question right. But she's always just calm and cool and collected. She's got such a bright future in front of her. She's just making us proud all the time."

Principal Bobby Ashley said Wooten has been a "shining star" at the school.

"She's very bright and very smart and does a lot of good things here, regardless of whether she would have won the spelling bee," he said. He described her as "a good, well-rounded child who enjoys coming to school, being here and being with her friends."

Wooten also participated in the state Geography Bee on Friday, April 3, which she had also studied for. But with the Geography Bee behind her, Wooten said she is "all freed up" to focus on the National Bee - and the kinds of words she will be asked to spell.

She said there's "some harder words in the study guide" than patronymic. The competition to make it on stage is even tougher; out of the nearly 300 students that will travel to Washington, only 50 will step to the microphone in front of a national audience.

Wooten said that she "is not sure if she's going to make it" into the final 50 or not, but she wants to because "it'd be such a great experience."

Jim Wooten, Anna's father and a substitute teacher at ACMS, said "it's a very special situation.

"Not that many people get to go ever, in their life, and I was very pleased that she earned her way there," he continued. "She's studying some now and trying to prepare for it. She's got a lot of hard words in front of her, and I want her to prepare so that she'll be able to compete when she gets there."

He added that both he and Anna's mother, Marilyn, are "going to have fun going up there and being her guest for a change." He said their goal will be "to help her enjoy the week and get ready for the competition as much as we can."

Until then, Wooten will attempt to study and remember as many words as possible, knowing that if "you can remember where you've heard it, it's not just a foreign word," and that "having a relation to the word really helps you know how to spell it."

To find out more about the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee, click to www.spellingbee.com.