I can add a new entry to my résumé as of today: Spell Master.
This morning was the annual 4th Grade Spelling Bee at Hillcrest, the school I attended from grades 4 to 12. And since the woman who has been Spell Master for several years is in the U.S. right now, she recommended me to the 4th grade teacher, Rachel.
I'd never been in a spelling bee in my life! Sure, I'd heard about them, and I'll always remember how to spell "chrysanthemum" from watching Anne of Green Gables a million and one times. I was in a multiplication bee when I was in second grade. But that was just a small affair held in our classroom. (I got second place, and I am still bitter about it because my opponent didn't have to answer his problem after I solved mine incorrectly!)
But I was flattered and thrilled to be part of the spelling bee. My mom raised me to be an excellent speller (thanks, Mom!), which reminds me that I spelled "bologna" wrong in my post about Mom. Oops. Anyway, I agreed to be the pronouncer at this year's spelling bee.
There were 24 students at the beginning, 12 from Hillcrest and 12 from a nearby boarding school, Kent Academy. We did two practice rounds, and then we started the real match. It was lovely! I was nervous, but the kids were even more nervous, so we had a good time. Just a few times I had to consult with my judges before announcing "Incorrect," and that was hard every time because one judge had heard it as correct and three of us had heard it as incorrect.
The weirdest situation was when I pronounced--very clearly, I might add--"parachute" and had both contestants start to spell the word "parakeet," which was also on their word list. Ha! I wasn't sure what to do, but both teachers agreed the one contestant had spelled "parakeet" correctly, and so we'd accept the word even though it was the wrong word.
In the end, Kent Academy students placed four out of the top five, with a Hillcrest student coming in fourth place. They really knew their stuff. It was a relief at the end of the bee, but I think we all had a good time, even the many disappointed kids. Now I can say I went to my first spelling bee when I was 25!
That sounds fun, Ish! I got a DVD from the library that was a documentary about students who reach the national level of spelling bees in the U.S. It was very intense for many of them. When I visited my third grade teacher a few years ago, she reminded me that during a spelling test one time, she'd given us the word "Hannukah" and I'd asked her which of the three spellings she preferred. I don't remember them now!
ReplyDelete