Kids Show Off Innate Talent at Spelling Bee

More than two dozen third, fourth and fifth graders from throughout Mill Valley competed in a Spelling Bee before a packed house in the Creekside Room at the on Wednesday, with student Shane Grele taking home first prize.

Grele, a third grader in Kim Jenkin's class, won the competition by spelling the word "innate" correctly after second place finisher Cooper Jacobs, a fifth grader at Park School, spelled it with only one "n." Grele finished the bee by spelling the word "ladle" correctly, according to .

The bee was based on a list of words around the theme of the , and later moved onto the word list used in the the Marin County Spelling Bee.

In winning second place, Jacobs used some quick thinking earlier to remain in the bee. After being disqualified by the judges because he didn’t capitalize the word P in Presidio, Jacobs pointed out to the judges that presidio was listed un-capitalized on the official word list. The judges agreed he had a strong argument and let him back into the competition.

In garnering third place, Charlotte Warner, also a third grader in Jenkin's class, lost on the word "gamut," spelling it "gammot."

The library agreed to waive up to $10 in fines on the library card account of each participants. Each participant was also given a $5 gift certificate to the Friends of the Library Book Sale. The first, second and third place winners also went home with a spelling bee trophy.