A Georgia Girl in Germany

Zachary participated in his school Spelling Bee Tuesday night. He’s had his “Spell It!” paideia for a good month and a half, but he didn’t start studying until I asked him about it on Sunday afternoon. Yes, Sunday afternoon -- as in a mere two days before the Spelling Bee.

He commented Sunday afternoon that he didn’t really want to participate this year. However, I vetoed that request on the grounds that he had signed up to participate, and it’s not acceptable to quit before seeing it through. So, we cracked open his “Spell It!” paideia and reviewed about half the words in it before the night was over (except for the challenge words), and studied all but a few dozen of he remaining words Monday night.

Tuesday afternoon arrived, and I picked him and Benjamin up for a quick bite to eat before having to show up at his school for the evening Spelling Bee (A friend of mine took MacKenzie to her swim lessons -- Zachary skipped -- then for pizza afterward ... a tremendous help!). I was surprised when we got to the school and noticed only 20 chairs for the spellers. There were actually only 18 who participated.

The organizer of the Spelling Bee reviewed the rules and a few administrative details, then announced that the winner would receive a $100 savings bond. Zachary instantly took note of the prize. He sat up straight (from a slouching position), and his eyes sparkled. Incentive?

Round one started, and Zachary stepped up to the mic, shoved his hands in his pockets, and correctly spelled “canary.” Fourteen spellers began round two, and Zachary correctly spelled “finale,” again with his hands in his pockets. Round three gave him “algebra” and left eight spellers. Round four seemed to be a difficult round since only three students were left after given their words ... and Zachary was one of them after correctly spelling “mahatma,” once again with his hands in his pockets. By this time, I was nervous for him and had a feeling that he could do it. Well, the feeling actually started during round two, but it was much more evident by now.

Round five was his most difficult round. Unfortunately, he misspelled “herpetology” as “herpitology.” However, both of the other two remaining contestants misspelled their words, so the contest was still on.

Round six gave him “mariachi,” which he spelled correctly (hands still in his pockets as he spoke into the mic) and narrowed the field down to two. He was going to place!

Round seven was the pivotal round. Zachary’s word was “nachtmusik.” Yes, it’s a word of German origin. Yes, Zachary just finished taking a German Conversation elective. Yes, we studied this word the night before -- and he misspelled it the night before. But when the pressure was on, he nailed it. Then the other student got up to spell her word, and misspelled it.

The Spelling Bee wasn’t over yet, though. Per the rules, if only one speller correctly spells in a round, a new one-word round begins and the speller is given an opportunity to spell the next word on the list -- the anticipated “championship word.” If the speller is correct, he is declared the champion. If he’s incorrect, a new round begins with all the spellers who spelled in the previous round (in this case, Zachary and the other remaining speller in round seven), and the process continues until a speller correctly spells two words while all other spellers spell incorrectly.

Zachary’s next word: “insidious.” He paused, shoved his hands into his pockets, repeated the word, and began spelling. “I – N – S – I – D.” Looooong pause as he thought back to his study session the night before and our conversation about words ending in “-eous” vs “-ious.” I had my hands over my mouth and nose, tears ready to burst from my eyes after he spoke the next few letters (I was so nervous I couldn’t even hold the camera). He continued. “I – O – U - S. Insidious.”

The judge’s reply, “That is correct.”

YEAH!!!!! Zachary was the champion! In his sixth Spelling Bee, he was the sole speller left standing at the end of the competition! Wow!! And to think that he didn’t want to compete -- and hadn’t even begun studying -- a mere two days earlier!

I took this photo just after he was declared the champion. He sat back down for a moment, but was literally on the edge of his seat with excitement.

I commented to Zachary afterward that he looked very calm with his hands in his pockets as he spelled. He replied that he was so nervous that his palms were sweating, and putting his hands in his pockets was the only way he could wipe them off without looking too obvious about it! What a wonderful way to adapt and overcome ... and not let the nervousness get to him!

What’s next? The DODDS European Spelling Bee is in mid-March. He’ll represent his school and compete against all the other winners from throughout Europe to determine who will represent DODDS-Europe at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

This photo shows Zachary and the second-place winner with the three judges.

As a side note, Benjamin behaved very well during the Spelling Bee, and was thrilled that I allowed him to select a bag of chips, two small pieces of chocolate, a few brownies and a bottle of water afterward. He made a beeline to the refreshment table!

Labels: Benjamin, Zachary