Racine, WI (AP) – The gymnasium at Somers Elementary School was the scene of what one adult onlooker described as “one of the most intensely fought competitions” in the history of elementary school spelling bees . . .
Well anyway, that’s how it appeared to this interested onlooker. I was one of about fifteen adults who came to watch (along with the rest of the upper student body) the finals of the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade spelling bee … an annual event which, judging from what I witnessed yesterday, is taken very seriously there.
I wasn’t there out of any random interest in spelling bees, but rather to support my niece Lorelai (a third grader) who was one of 36 students who had qualified for the finals. It’s one hallmark of this particular bee that they throw students from all three grades into the fray, together – and may the best boy or girl win. And it’s fascinating to me that the matter of age/grade seems to have little if any bearing on how well one does in this competition. For instance, when we were down to the last 9 spellers, 3 were third graders, 4 were 4th graders, and 2 were 5th graders. It was also interesting to me what a close balance there was between boys and girls – with each gender sneaking ahead of the other, only to fall behind within a few minutes. By the time we got to the last 4 spellers, 3 of them were boys …. but the ultimate champion was a girl. Ultimately, gender did not seem to matter much at all. Nor did height nor weight nor cuteness. It was all about the spelling, plain and simple.
As the moderator (one of the school’s teachers, I assume) was explaining the rules and procedures …. and that’s something else that is taken very seriously ….. she was using words like CAT, as in “Think carefully about how you want to spell your word, because once you say ‘K-A- etc.” you can’t take it back.” I’m listening to the procedures being explained, but mostly I’m thinking to myself “Cat?!?!? Surely we’re not going to be using words as simple as that, are we?” But then the first speller went to the microphone and was given the word “rug” – a word that my niece could spell while she was still in diapers, (Well, probably.) But before too long, they had moved on to “effect” and “market” and “tadpole” – and eventually “affluent,” “lambasted” and the final word of the entire competition, “charioteer” …. plus a couple of words that the moderator admitted to not knowing herself were words before the competition.
Even in that very first round, where the words were pretty much all 3,4 or 5 letters and 1 syllable long, 2 of the 36 contestants went down, I’m assuming more from nerves than from actually not knowing how to spell the word. After that, it seemed like we would go for long stretches where not a single mistake would be made and then, in quick succession, two or three students in a row would make a mistake. In the early going, the rest of the student body in the audience listened pretty much in complete silence, not appearing to be all that engaged in what was going on up on that stage. But then at some point, there started to be fully audible reactions in the audience when a particular student would go out …. and I noticed that it especially happened with tall, cute boys. If one of them made an error, and the moderator said those dread words “I’m sorry ….” there would be these barely suppressed groans and moans from some of the girls in the audience, conveying what seemed like an equal mix of shock and sadness. And by the last 15 words or so, pretty much every time someone would either succeed or fail, there would be reaction in the audience- and it felt like every student was caught up in the proceedings as though they were watching their classmates in a hard- fought basketball game … and at some point, the teachers gave up trying to shush them, probably pleased that their students were getting so caught up in spelling, of all things.
And of course, it was SO cool to be at a competitive event that didn’t involve hitting a ball or dunking a basket or pinning an opponent or catching a pass or executing a double axel . . . but rather involved a combination of smarts and grace-under-pressure. (Not that being a good athlete doesn’t require smarts, but you know what I mean.)
It was interesting to see the wide variety of the students – from delicate-looking little girls who could scarcely reach the microphone to strapping boys who appeared destined for future glory on the football field. Some looked meek and timid (boys and girls, both) and others looked like they owned the stage (again, both boys and girls.) One young bespectacled boy caught my eye in the fourth or fifth round when he had to take a huge pause in the middle of spelling his word- apparently having lost track of where he was- before finally finishing it ….. correctly! I breathed as big a sigh of relief as he did when that little bell was rung, indicating he had spelled the word correctly, but I thought to myself “he’s not going to last much longer.” In fact, he finished second! There was also the shortest of all the girls, who seemed to be standing on tippy-toe just to be able to speak directly into the microphone. But she turned out to be an extremely strong speller who lasted into the top ten. It was also interesting to note the wide array of reactions to failure. I couldn’t help but notice one girl come off the stage and dissolve into inconsolable tears in the arms of her mom. Shortly after that, a boy went out – eliciting what sounded like gasps of genuine surprise from many of the kids, so I’m guessing he was a strong speller who went out earlier than expected – and he was grinning ear to ear as he showed his ribbon to whoever had come there to support him, not appearing to be sad at all. Most of the students were closer to the latter attitude, with no sense whatsoever that things had taken a tragic turn.
The protocol in this particular spelling bee (and I think it’s often done this way) is that when a student spelled a word correctly, their success was greeted pretty much with silence. But when a student went down, the audience was encouraged to applaud for them. For most of the bee, this felt weird to me ….. not clapping for spelling successfully and applauding for messing up ….. and maybe even one more example of society bending over backwards to make everyone feel like winners. I suppose on some level I was (inwardly) rolling my eyes at this – that is, until my niece Lorelai went down on the word “talisman” (which has officially become my least favorite word), which inspired some of the first sounds of disbelief from the students, who evidently expected her to last longer. (Until then, she was solid as a rock, and nobody spelled more loudly and confidently than she did. . . at least until “talisman.” As soon as I heard the word, my stomach leapt into my throat – that felt like twice as hard a word as any that had been posed up until then. And when Lorelai paused for several seconds – that had not happened in any of the previous rounds for her – I had a sinking feeling that she was in trouble, and it turns out that she was. (She swapped an “e” for the “i”). I have to say that at that moment, I was incredibly grateful for the warm applause that filled the room at that moment, and realized that as simple a gesture as that might really make a big difference in the heart of that competitor at such a sad moment.
(When I went down in a junior high spelling bee, capitalizing “centigrade” the way you capitalize “Fahrenheit,” I remember sickening silence – no reassuring applause – as I took my seat.)
I happen to be typing this on the bus as the Carthage Choir journeys to Milwaukee to sing for the state choral directors convention. When Dr. Garcia-Novelli asked what I was blogging about, he mentioned that in Argentina – and pretty much any nation where Spanish is spoken – there is no such thing as spelling bees, because the language almost perfectly follows it’s own rules …. and with such perfect predictability, there is no point in doing something like a spelling bee. But when you’re dealing with as wild and unpredictable a language as English, spelling is this crazy, challenging riddle that invites – indeed, almost demands – such competitions. I was so glad he said that, because it underscored for me the challenge that these youngsters were undertaking …. as indeed all of us do every time we post something on Facebook or write a sign to hang in our shop window.
Or spell Talisman.
I should mention that I was impressed with how well the students did – with how they carried themselves – and the grace with which (nearly) all of them handled their disappointment …. including the boy who finished second but who seemed genuinely happy for the girl who took home top honors. I suppose it helps that both of them will be advancing to the next level, and I’m sure will represent Somers Elementary School in exemplary fashion. And meanwhile, the third and fourth graders can look forward to next year and yet another opportunity to strut their spelling stuff.
pictured above: I took TONS of photos of the spelling bee, but I didn’t feel right using one that would call undue attention to a stranger’s child, so I chose a picture which shows Lorelai spelling. I love the poised, confident posture with which she stood there and delivered the goods. In case you couldn’t tell, I was incredibly proud of her.