Although Willow Glen residents Kara Risser, 11, and Elisabeth Rosa, 8, came into the event thoroughly prepared, it was the anticipation leading up to it that made them nervous. Both girls were new to the spelling-bee concept and expressed a little trepidation at the thought of standing on the edge of a stage alone and spelling a word correctly into a microphone.

To help Elisabeth conquer her fears about this first-time event, her mother, Deanna, had her practice at home by holding a wooden spoon in front of her face and pretending she was speaking into a microphone.

And, her mother said, "I told her to picture the audience in swimsuits in the snow."

During the spelling bee, each word was announced, used in a sentence and then spelled by the participant. Then, the youth were asked to confirm their spelling of the word by answering the famous Regis Philbin Who Wants to be a Millionaire question: Is that your final answer? This phrase garnered snickers from the audience full of parents.

Although Elisabeth did well in the spelling bee, making it to the "sudden-death spell off," she said the sentences used with each word weren't much help, that they only distracted her from what she was asked to spell. Elisabeth misspelled "Louis" during sudden-death play, but

she said overall it was a good experience.

"I did better than I thought I would do," Elisabeth said. "There were some words in it that I didn't even know existed."

And she added, "It was really fun, especially being up on stage. After the first round, it just kept getting easier. I'm definitely going to do this again next year."

Elisabeth and nearly 100 other youth, ranging in ages from six to 17, were divided into six different levels for the spelling bee.

Kara, who competed in a different age bracket than Elisabeth, said she almost made it to the spell off but misspelled the word "peruse" right before the final round.

"I was excited and a little nervous before the spelling bee, but I practiced a lot and did pretty well," she said.

Kara spent hours preparing for the spelling bee with her mom, Becky. Before the event, the participants were sent a list of words to use to hone their spelling skills.

"I think this is the first time I've ever seen Kara this nervous," Becky said. "It is good for the kids to have this opportunity."

In fact, Becky said many opportunities like the home-school spelling bee are available to youth, more than public- and private-schooled students and their parents realize. She said a common misconception about home-schooled children is that they are not socialized properly and are too insulated from the world.

"We have the opportunity to hone in on the strengths and weaknesses of our children," Becky said. "I thought I would only do this one year, but one year turned into five years. It has been very rewarding."

For more information about Students Educated Lovingly At Home Christian schools, visit selahchristianschools.com. SELAH is a Christian-based group that provides support to South Bay home-schooled children.