photo by: Courtesy of Kristi Perrins

Maci Perrins, a Langston Hughes Elementary fifth-grader, is pictured at the Sunflower State Spelling Bee on March 23, 2024. Perrins took second place at the contest.

Maci Perrins, the Langston Hughes Elementary student and two-time winner of the Douglas County Spelling Bee, placed second at the Sunflower State Spelling Bee over the weekend and was recognized by the Lawrence school board at its Monday meeting.

Maci, a fifth-grader, lost the state bee Saturday in Salina to Carey Chesire of Andover Middle School, who correctly spelled “ahuehuete,” which is a tree known as the Mexican cypress. Chesire now qualifies for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.

photo by: Contributed

Carey Chesire, the 2024 Sunflower State Spelling Bee winner

“I didn’t win, but I tried my best,” Maci said at the meeting — to which Superintendent Anthony Lewis said, “You did win; you’re the second best speller in the state.”

Lewis asked Maci who was the best speller in her house — a nod to the four children in her family who are especially gifted with words, including her brother Ethan, who participated in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in 2014. Maci shyly stepped up to answer the loaded question, then seemed relieved when Lewis let her off the hook.

At the county bee in February, Maci did battle with her brother Isaac, an eighth-grader at Southwest Middle School, before claiming her second county title and heading to the state bee.

Maci’s proud dad, Erik Perrins, had a little bit of fun with the meeting attendees Monday, asking them to raise their hands and then drop them when he got to a word they couldn’t spell. He started off with “lawyer” and moved through “beret” and “expectorant” and “continuum.” By the time he turned up the volume to “connoisseur” and “degauss,” Maci’s final word in the state bee, all the adults were sitting sheepishly with their hands down. (Degauss, by the way, refers to the process of decreasing a magnetic field).

Aside from Maci’s spelling talent, Jackie Mickel, the Langston Hughes principal, said that Maci exemplified what it means to be “a model student.”

“She’s consistently a strong leader for her peers. She’s got strong character, and she’s kind to all of her classmates and teachers,” Mickel said.

photo by: Courtesy of Kristi Perrins

Maci Perrins, a Langston Hughes Elementary fifth-grader, is pictured at the Sunflower State Spelling Bee on March 23, 2024. Perrins took second place at the contest.