Broadway Middle School seventh-grader Frida Ruff and Gearhart Elementary School fifth-grader Elliot Ousley were in mutual agreement about their most effective method for becoming good spellers: Reading. A lot, they added.

That was the tool they used to each win first place in their respective divisions during an annual countywide spelling competition, hosted by the Northwest Regional Education Service District at the Clatsop Service Center in Astoria May 18.

After winning first and second place at their schools, 12 students from three elementary schools and three middle schools competed in the county contest. Ousley topped Division I, for first- through fifth-graders, and Ruff took top honors in Division II, for middle schoolers. No one from the county participated in Division III, for high schoolers.

Ruff and Ousley, as winners for Clatsop County, are invited to compete in their divisions for the Oregon Statewide Spelling Championship at the Oregon State Fair scheduled for Sept. 5 in Salem.

In Division I, Kyrstin Crawford, from Gearhart, placed second and Holly Fergus, from Seaside Heights Elementary School, placed third. Seaside Heights student Lucy Gloria was also one of six participants in Division I, and the other two were from Hilda Lahti Elementary School.

In Division II, Kara Spell, from Broadway Middle School, placed second and Rebecca Thurston, from Jewell Middle School, placed third. The other three participants were from Hilda Lahti and Jewell middle schools.

Unlike at spelling bees, which involve oral communication, the contest was conducted using a written test. All participants for one division sat in a room with a piece of paper to write down answers, Ruff said. A proctor read off the spelling words, 25 in all, along with a sentence using the word and putting it in context.

Immediately after the test was administered, the participants’ answers were reviewed and winners were announced. Students were not told how many answers were incorrect or which ones unless they specifically asked, Ruff said.

She felt confident about her answers for all the words except possibly one – leery. Regardless, her performance put her in first place and she will have a shot to test her skills against students from across the state in September during a competition that traditionally features more challenging words, such as isthmus.

The Division I competition, according to Ousley, included words such as civilization, nucleus and vertebrae. After completing the test, he said, he also felt confident in his performance. He has participated in one other county competition and this will be his first time going to state.

Ruff has competed several times at the county level, and this will be her second time participating in the state championship. Her inaugural appearance was after winning first place in the county for Division I as a fifth-grader.

For her, being able to spell words correctly is an indicator of competence and quality. Even if she is reading something written with nice handwriting, she said, “I notice one little misspelled word and it makes it so much less professional.”

Ruff plans to prepare for the state championship as she has for all spelling competitions: by reading, which she thinks is the most effective method because it’s something she enjoys.

“I read books, and they have a lot of words in them. So I pick up the words and I remember them,” she said.

Ruff particularly likes work from the fantasy and fiction genres; her favorite book is “Every Day,” by David Levithan. She frequents the Seaside Public Library and is well-known at the institution.

“I’m a regular there,” she said. “I’m pretty sure I’ve been to every section in the library 100 times.”

Ousley also is an avid reader. He specifically likes action and adventure books. His favorite reading material is the Harry Potter series, written by J.K. Rowling. Reading has been a good process for learning how to spell, he said, because “there are a lot of words in books, and you can just look at how they’re spelled.”

In addition to being given a spot in the statewide spelling championship, the students get a free pass to the fair, which Ruff is particularly excited about. The contest is done first, and then she anticipates spending the rest of the weekend going on rides, playing games, eating good food and partaking in other fair activities.

The state contest, which has been sponsored by the Oregon Spellers for six years and is for all the county and regional spelling contest winners, also is written, but the fair annually includes The Bee at the Fair, a verbal contest open to all patrons. The junior division for kids 12 and younger will start at 2 p.m. The contest for teenagers and adults will start at 3 p.m. Neither competition is sponsored by the Oregon Department of Education or affiliated with Scripps or the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Ruff and Ousley do not intend to participate in the spelling bee. Ruff said it takes longer for her to audibly spell words; Ousley said he is “kind of shy.”

When it comes to the spelling contest, the two competitors also have different feelings. Ousley said he’s not a very competitive person, and he more just enjoys the activity with winning being a bonus. Ruff agreed it’s all for fun, but she views herself as “pretty competitive” – “I want to win,” she added.

For more information about the Oregon Statewide Spelling Championship or the nonprofit Oregon Spellers, visit www.oregonspellers.org/.