Michael Leonardo may not remember any of the words he spelled correctly en route to his second consecutive Cooperstown Central School spelling bee victory, but there’s one word he’ll never forget.

"Variegated" _ something characterized by streaks, marks, or patches of a different color or colors _ was the only word the eighth-grader spelled wrong Dec. 6 during 12 rounds of the school’s eighth-annual spelling bee.

Contestants in Cooperstown’s bee are eliminated after misspelling two words, and in the twelfth round, runners-up Robbie Katz and Kayleen Campbell missed words for the second time, while Leonardo spelled his correctly.

"I guess I got lucky," Leonardo said Friday about winning the bee. "It felt good." He said he was pretty nervous going into the spelling bee because this is the last year he’s eligible to compete.

With the win, Leonardo earns a slot competing against other area school champions in The Daily Star regional spelling bee later this winter. He’s also taken the first step towards returning to Washington D.C. for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, in which he competed in June 2006 after winning The Daily Star regional bee last March.

"I’m hoping I do well there," said Leonardo about the regional bee. "Last year it was pretty easy. I’m looking forward to it."

Leonardo said he plans to study more this year for the regional and _ if he makes it _ national bee, as he didn’t do quite as well as he hoped to during the Scripps Bee in D.C.

"I got whupped at the nationals," he said. He said he’ll be studying with his sister Anne, a sixth-grader at CCS.

Anne Leonardo also competed in this year’s bee at Cooperstown, one of 15 students to participate. Five students from the sixth, seventh and eighth grades are chosen for the bee following a written test.

Middle school principal and bee pronouncer Michael Cring said that while Leonardo won the spelling bee, everyone who participated had done extremely well just to make it on the stage. He said it’s not easy for students to stand in front of their peers like that and compete.

"It’s tough for kids that age to get on the spotlight," he said. "But it’s a good experience. All those students who get up there get something valuable out of it."

Cring said the spelling bee is nice because it allows the school to showcase academics, which are sometimes outshined by sports teams, band performances and plays.

Kate Leonardo, Michael’s mother, said it was great the school was participating in the bee, something it hadn’t done before Cring and the English department got it started eight years ago.

"They deserve a lot of credit for bringing that to the school," she said. "It’s not just about spelling words. The students are also getting really interested in language, a skill they’ll need no matter what their future holds."