After many long nights of studying, all of her hard work finally paid off when Fleetwood Area Middle School prodigy Rachel Keirstead recently won the Berks County Spelling Bee. She studied using a packet full of words designed for the Scripps’ Spelling Bee. For winning, she was awarded a $100 savings bond, a very large trophy, and a Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, which is the source of the words used in the spelling bee.
Keirstead said that the honor of winning the bee was amazing, yet, along with earning the title of spelling bee champion, Rachel also has written her own story published in the periodical Stone Soup.
The name of her story is “Home is Where You’re Happy.” She was inspired to write the story after her father’s company relocated and he considered moving the family to New Jersey.
“I was distraught, and I began to think about the difficulties people face when they move,” said Keirstead.
The plot is about a girl named Leah who lives in Ohio. One day her parents announce that the family is going to move to New Jersey. At first, she has trouble finding friends, but one day she meets a girl named Lizzy. Lizzy is in the school’s outdoor club, and Leah and she quickly bond while spending time in the woods, which is one of Leah’s hobbies from her time in Ohio.
Rachel has donated a copy of Stone Soup to the Middle School Library for all to read.
Rachel plans to continue writing and aspires to be an author, which has been her dream since elementary school.
The Tiger Times 
Posted on April 12, 2011 by thetigertimes
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