The top three finishers in Cape Elizabeth Middle School’s annual spelling bee. From left are third-place finisher Jack Morris, second-place finisher Lydia Berman, and first-place finisher Michael Taintor. Taintor is in eighth grade and moves on to compete in the Cumberland County spelling bee at Harrison Middle School in Yarmouth on March 1.

Courtesy photo

Eighth-grader Michael Taintor won Cape Elizabeth Middle School’s annual spelling bee on Feb. 16 by correctly spelling the word “aphid.” He will compete in the Cumberland County spelling bee at Yarmouth’s Harrison Middle School on Tuesday, March 1.

The runners-up were sixth-grader Lydia Berman, who will compete in Taintor’s place if he is unable to attend, and third-place finisher Jack Morris, an eighth-grader.

The sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade contestants were all winners or runners-up in individual classroom spelling bees. These class and school-wide competitions take place across the country and are the early stages of the 78th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee culminating in Washington, D.C., in May.

The only student from Maine to ever win the national spelling bee was Sarah Wilson from Portland. She won in 1934 by correctly spelling the word “deteriorating.”

The Cape Elizabeth Middle School’s spelling bee was organized by librarian Hayden Atwood, the beemaster was Bill Kueck, a social worker for the Cape school district, and the three judges were Gary Record, Julie Tselikis and Mary Murphy, all teachers at the middle school.

Two parent volunteers also helped coordinate the school-wide bee: Trish Brigham and Colleen Taintor, the mother of the winner.