ATLANTA — Memorial Middle School seventh-grader Jaire Duncan might not have won the 2010 Georgia Spelling Bee at Georgia State University in Atlanta on Friday, but he knows he’s got a lot of fans and supporters.

After about 15 rounds of competition in more than two hours, Duncan placed ninth out of 20 contestants from around the state.

“It wasn’t really that difficult,” he said after the competition.

He spelled such words as synergy, picaresque, rendezvous, gnathonic, roodebok, braggadocio and uitlander. Two rounds after taking a break since the competition had already run two hours long — already the longest competition in many years — caller John Pruitt, news anchor at WSB-TV, called for him the word “Briton” — specially noted as a Celtic term referring to people from the island of Great Britain and a homonym.
Duncan spelled “Britain,” the incorrect term. After his dad David protested to the judges, asking for verification of the two words being homonyms, judges determined after several minutes that Duncan was indeed incorrect.

“It was important to him,” his dad said about the Spelling Bee.

His mom Heather said Jaire didn’t tell her he wanted to try to pass his old record — when he placed 10th in the 2008 Georgia Spelling Bee — but she can tell that he was happy about accomplishing that much.

“I’m proud of him,” she said. “I thought it was tough. ... I can’t believe some of the words — it was like watching (the spelling bee competition) on television. Those kids were awesome.”

After the Spelling Bee ended, several parents of contestants and other guests congratulated Duncan on his knowledge of spelling and his ease of spelling words.
“You are a terrific speller,” one said.

“You did great,” another said, shaking his hand.

Duncan said he was nervous throughout the competition, but he didn’t show it — quickly spelling words and rarely asking for extended definitions and usages.

“That’s what he does,” his mom said. “If he slows down, he’ll get it wrong.”

Duncan hopes to compete in the Spelling Bee again next year — his last year he will be eligible for the competition. But he’s going to have to watch out for his siblings — his sister Jazz placed second in the Rockdale County Public Schools competition against him earlier this year, and his other younger siblings are eager to compete as well, keeping their noses in books as much as Jaire does.

“He’s an asset to our school and a great role model,” said his principal Andrea McMahan. “We are so proud of the work he has done.”

In the end, Marist School student Julia Denniss won Friday’s state competition, which Oconee County’s home school student Noah Weinrich placed second after misspelling “pansit;” Denniss spelled “conjunctivitis” for the win.

All participants take home $75 from Bee sponsors, as well as other prizes.

“This has been an amazing contest,” said Richard McIntyre, chair of the Georgia Association of Educators Spelling Bee committee. “They are all winners who have proven themselves.”