Megan Conn advances in spelling bee Megan Conn advances in spelling bee (February 23, 2005)

Seventh-grader Megan Conn of La Entrada middle school took first place in the 2004-05 school spelling bee by correctly spelling the word "edentulous," which means toothless.

This is the second honor in as many months for Megan, who also won the third-place prize in the school's geography bee in December. If she does well on a written spelling bee later this month, Megan will qualify for the regional oral spelling bee in March.

Second place was a three-way tie by Ryan Chin, seventh grade; David Galbraith, seventh grade; and Rish Santhanam, eighth grade. Sixth-grader Mark Moritz-Rabson finished third.

Megan, Rish and Mark also won for their respective grade levels. Taking the fourth-grade prize was Jeremmie Lai. Sam Falkenhagen and Rachel Tsukamoto tied for the fifth-grade honors.

The national spelling bee is scheduled for the end of May in Washington, D.C. This is the 78th national contest, according to a brief history of the bee. Nine kids competed in the first bee, in 1925, and of the 80 winners overall -- including three co-champions -- girls outnumber boys 42 to 38.

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