By PAT NEWMAN
pnewman@thecitizennews.com

Tracy Welch, an eighth grader at Rising Starr Middle School, doesn't need spell-check.

Her way with words won her first place in the recent county-wide spelling bee. Correct spelling of the words “technique,” “arcane” and “squalid” separated her from the 17 other elementary and middle schoolers competing for a chance to move on to the district contest March 4.

Welch is not a newcomer to spelling competitions. She took second place in fifth grade, while living in Columbus County, and was top speller in her school in seventh grade. Now she is working on mastering some of the tough words contained in the Scripps-Howard booklet of 3,500 words used across the nation for spelling bees.

“There are 29 different categories,” she explained. The 13-year-old student also plays the trombone, and according to one of her teachers, “may rule the world someday,” Welch said laughing.