“Bee” lover qualifies for nationals

Mercer Island High School freshman, Kela Harrington loves “bee” competitions. In 2010, she represented King and Snohomish Counties at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

But now, because of her age, she is no longer eligible for the Scripps event, so she searched for a similar type of competition. She found an ad for the National History Bee and Bowl on the Internet. That was exactly what she was looking for. She then asked her honors history teacher, Mike Radow, if he would let her sign up and represent the school at the meets, which he happily agreed to do.

She competed in the Central Washington Regional History Bowl and Bee, which was held on Jan. 28 in Lacy.

She originally intended to participate only in the individual Junior Varsity Bee portion of the event. However, the tournament director needed one more team to even out the slots for the competition, so he asked her if she might be interested in trying. She came in third in the individual bee and second in the team bowl competition.

She then began preparing for the Washington State Tournament, which was held Feb. 18 at Klahowya Secondary School in Silverdale.

There she placed first in the individual bee (JV) and second in the team bowl (JV) competition. Her next stop is Washington, D.C., where she will represent Mercer Island High School at the National History Bee and Bowl later this spring. She will be competing as a single-person ‘team.’

 

Contact Mercer Island Reporter Staff Reporter Staff at editor@mi-reporter.com.

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