Kapaa Middle’s Makenzie Abalos Wins Kauai Complex Area Spelling Bee

Makenzie Abalos, an eighth-grade student at Kapaa Middle School, prevailed after 16 rounds to win the Kauai Complex Area Spelling Bee and earned a trip to the Hawai‘i State Spelling Bee in Honolulu later this spring. Abalos clinched the title by correctly spelling cryptic and then syringe in the final round at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School cafeteria in Lihue.

Twenty students from schools across Kauai competed in the Friday night contest, which continues a local tradition of holding the district bee around Super Bowl weekend. The field narrowed dramatically in Round 8 when the words affiliate and pinnacle eliminated more than a dozen spellers. By Round 10, three spellers remained, and contest pressure mounted as final rounds tested vocabulary and composure.

Ethan Irimata, an eighth-grader representing Hawaii Technology Academy and identified as Candidate 15, used the back of his candidate placard to scribe his assigned word as he worked through the competition. In Round 11 the word Opalite eliminated Eleele Elementary fifth-grader Madeleine Young, whose name also appears in one record as Madeline Youn. In Round 15 Ethan Irimata stumbled on perceptive and was eliminated, leaving Abalos to advance and ultimately win with her Round 16 sequence.

Event records list participating students and their schools, including Isla Smith (grade 5) and Cian Duffy (grade 7) of Alaka‘i O Kauai Public Charter School; Francesca Dasalla-Astero (grade 6) and Kourtney Lopez-Duffy (grade 7) of Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School; Jhayrmiyah Yoshimoto (grade 5) and Madeleine Young (grade 5) of Eleele Elementary School; Lael Koopman (grade 4) and Evy Penhallurick (grade 5) of Hanalei Elementary School; Canon Jung (grade 6) and Ethan Irimata (grade 8) of Hawaii Technology Academy; Matarangi Kitashima (grade 4) and Emma Benton (grade 5) of Kapaa Elementary School; Makenzie Abalos (grade 8) and Khloe Coviello (grade 8) of Kapaa Middle School; plus Kailana Butay (grade 4) and Amaya Pinder (grade 5) whose school names are truncated in the available participant list. Koloa Elementary was represented by Elijah Igne and Cameron Kaneshiro. Organizers indicated that not all 20 entries are fully listed in the available record.

Kauai Complex Area District Education Specialist Sean Doi framed the timing as practical as well as traditional: “if we know next year’s Super Bowl date, we’ll know next year’s Kauai District Spelling Bee.” For families and schools across the island, the bee is an academic showcase that brings students, teachers, and parents together in a community event timed with a high-attendance weekend.

The immediate next step for Abalos is participation in the state spelling bee in Honolulu later this spring; exact state dates and travel logistics have not been published with the event results. For Kauai readers, the outcome spotlights strong academic competition at local schools and offers a focal point for community support as Abalos prepares to represent the island at the state level.