FOSTER -- After 5 tough rounds of very challenging words, Ramage Elementary School’s 5th grade student Chase Ceserta took first place at the Boone County Schools annual Spelling Bee contest on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 at the operations center in Foster.

“I was very nervous, but now that it’s over it feels awesome,” Ceserta said after correctly spelling “nuance” to win the spelling bee contest.

Ceserta said he was worried in round four when asked to spell the word “giantesque.”

“I think that was the toughest one for me,” he said.

Ceserta said he spent lots of time studying and plans to hit the books once again in preparation for the state level competition March 16 in Charleston.

Ceserta also won as the written test winner for grade 5.

Brooke McCormick, a 7th grade student at Sherman Junior High School in Seth, was the runner-up of the Boone County Schools’ Spelling Bee, misspelling only the word “incandescence.”

“I think all the students will remember the word they misspelled forever,” said Boone County Schools Assistant Superintendent Dr. Lisa Beck.

McCormick will serve as the alternate for the regional spelling bee.

In the day and age of spell check and Google, correctly spelling words like “stratification,” “arbitrary,” and “polymathic” is an impressive feat without technological assistance. All of the students who made it to the spelling bee Wednesday should be proud of their accomplishment, said Boone County School Superintendent John Hudson.

The spelling bee featured 24 students from all 11 elementary and 3 middle and junior high schools in the county. All students received a Webster’s dictionary for participating and trophies were given to the winner and runner-up, as well as the written test winners.

Participants included Aaron Adkins, Brianna Adkins, Zion Bourne, Matthew Britton, Abby Brown, Chase Ceserta, Kristen Cochran, Ethan Curry, Jacob Ferrell, Nathan Hager, Laura Heike, Madilyn Jarrett, Jordan Kish, Hannah Layton, Hannah Massey, Cameron Maynard, Brooke McCormick, Abby Monhollen, Nathan Ramsey, Anna Rolen, Amelia Setser, Chloe Toney, Emily Wood and Breanna Workman.

The three judges were all former Boone County educators, which included Rita Church, Phyllis Turley and former superintendent Gary Sumpter.