CHARLESTON - Parfait is a dessert of ice cream and fruit in alternate layers, often topped with whipped cream and served in a tall, narrow, short-stemmed glass.

It was also the winning word for Charleston Middle School student Mahir Khan, who is the new champion of the Coles County Spelling Bee.

Khan beat out eight other contestants Monday night at Charleston Middle School in the tenth round to earn his place in the regional spelling bee at Millikin University on Saturday, March 24. The winner of the regional bee competes in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

Dalton Runyon, another Charleston Middle School student, was the runner-up and also earned a spot in the regional bee.

With help from his mom and teachers, Khan said he went through a list of 700 words to study for the competition. Khan said he was confident until he sat down in his chair in the middle school's library.

"I was a little nervous," he said. "After I won I was really satisfied."

Khan said he will prepare for the regional bee by studying the same list as well as learning extra words he'll look up on the Internet.

Runyon said his strategy was all about cramming. "I crammed as many words as I could into my head and practiced until I got here tonight. I felt good and I was surprised."

Runyon won second after a spell-off with Victoria Kremer from Mattoon. He spelled "hygiene" and "boudoir" correctly after Kremer missed "mahi-mahi."

Betty Simon, a former Charleston Middle School music teacher, moderated the match and gave Runyon and Kahn some advice for the next round.

"Practice with a microphone," she said. "Get used to walking up and putting the microphone down or up to where you need it."

Simon also advised the contestants to learn every word they could between now and March 24.

Simon told all the contestants they should be proud they represented their school and that making it that far was a testament to their spelling smarts.

Kate Henderson can be reached at khenderson@jg-tc.com or 238-6858.