Every year, students nationwide delve into dictionaries and study guides, picking words apart in hopes of representing their region in the Scripps National Spelling Bee (SNSB) in May. On March 14, 22 students showcased their hard work during the Prince George’s County Spelling Bee at the University of Maryland Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park.
After an intense 10-round competition and months of training leading the big day, one student, 11-year-old Abigail Adegbite, proved victorious.
“I’m really surprised,” she told the Informer regarding her victory.
For a decade Washington Informer Charities, which has hosted the District’s bee since 1981, has sponsored the Prince George’s County’s spelling bee for 10 years, eagerly providing students with the opportunity to showcase their intellect and determination.
“[The Prince George’s bee] lost their sponsor, so that was an easy one,” said second-generation Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark-Barnes to the competition’s audience. “We love it because, one: our kids want to participate in this competition; and two: they’ve got the support of their parents and their teachers, their family members … and their classmates that are rooting them on.”
Companies like Pepco, Washington Gas, the Educational Systems Federal Credit Union, the Safeway Foundation, and more sponsored the annual competition, providing all spellers with prizes, goodie bags and gift cards to take home.
Cheers and applause rang through the auditorium as moderator David Zahren introduced the finalists by reading each student’s brief biography. Many considered themselves avid readers, writers and artists.
Ranging from ages 10 to 14, the spellers nervously and proudly walked onto the stage.
Zahren presented the rules to the spellers and attendees which included: permission for participants to ask the announcer to repeat a word, define it and provide its part of speech and country of origin; prohibition of help from the audience; permission for judges to disqualify a student who ignores a request to begin spelling; and encouragement for the participants to pronounce the word before they spell it.
Before starting the competition, Zahren offered contestants, who were already victors from their respective schools, praise and encouragement.
“Everyone gets to take home the realization that they are winners,” he said. “You are all winners here.”
Opening Words: The Spelling Bee Begins
The spelling bee commenced with the word “earmark,” spelled correctly by eighth grader Seyram Sablah of Accokeek Academy.
Other words spelled correctly in the first round included “procedure” and “hoax.” Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School seventh-grader Taylor Foy correctly spelled “amass,” and received praise from Zahren for her deliberate diction.
The most disqualifications occurred in the first and fourth rounds with five incorrectly spelled words during each. Some of the words misspelled in these rounds included “dawdle,” “chemise,” “naysayers” and “agate.”
Prince George’s County Spelling Bee Coordinator Chauka Reid is adamant about creating a warm and supportive environment for the spellers, especially after a disqualification. To help comfort disheartened students, she reminds them their support systems are proud of them, and that even adults, including herself, don’t know some of the words given by the judges.
“It does break my heart when they miss a word [and] it breaks my heart when they cry,” Reid told The Informer. “I tell them that I’m proud of them and that it’s a big achievement… to have beaten your entire school just to get here.”
Round five featured the top four finalists– Abigail Adegbite of Heather Hills Elementary, Victoria McFetridge of St. Mary of the Assumption School, Jean Pierre Pary of St. Mary of the Mills School and Aiden Nelson of Walker Mill Middle School.
Eleven-year-old Abigail and 13-year-old Jean Pierre advanced to the next round after correctly spelling “cochin” and “reminiscent,” respectively.
“I just breathe in and out, and I pray,” Abigail told The Informer, sharing how she deals with nerves onstage.
The Final Rounds Unfold
The spelling bee rules are nuanced.
If none of the spellers remaining spell a word correctly during the round, they all continue competing, according to the bee rules. If only one participant accurately spells a word, a new round will begin and they’ll get a new word. If they are successful, that student is declared the champion. If they misspell the word, all spellers remaining in the competition at the start of the previous round will return and continue the competition in a new round.
In round six, Abigail and Jean Pierre went head to head, remaining calm and collected under the immense pressure. They both misspelled the words “acupuncture” and “genealogical” respectively, resulting in a seventh round.
After spelling “statistician” with an extra “t,” Abigail walked offstage once the judges rang the bell signaling her misspelling. However, the fifth grader returned to the competition after her opponent misspelled “hagiographer,” resulting in a ninth round where she spelled “superstitious” correctly and moved on to a 10th round as the only remaining competitor onstage.
After enduring 10 rounds and 73 total words spelled by the students, Abigail was declared the spelling bee’s victor once she spelled “fluoride.” She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled before calmly and proudly reciting the winning eight letters, solidifying her spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Her teacher, Leslie Tyrell, watched the timid girl blossom throughout the entire spelling bee process.
“I know she was so shy…, but she persevered and did it, and I’m so proud,” Tyrell told the Informer. “She has definitely grown. She’s been so shy and quiet and still is, but [now] she opens up more and feels more comfortable in herself.”
Preparing for the spelling bee was no easy task, and wasn’t something she could do alone. Her siblings would help her study by typing words into Google and then using the pronunciation feature so Abigail could hear the word and recite its letters.
Sometimes she wanted to surrender to the pressure, but she pushed through.
“This taught me that I shouldn’t give up,” Abigail said, “because I had a lot of times where I wanted to stop, but I [kept] going.”
Spelling’s Role in Everyday Life
As literacy rates in the United States have declined, spelling bees remain significant in encouraging students to expand their vocabularies and improve their reading skills. Competitions like these can possibly reinforce students’ confidence and nourish their public speaking skills.
According to the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions, two-thirds of the nation’s fourth and eighth graders don’t qualify as proficient readers.
In 2022, fourth graders’ average reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress were the lowest they’ve been in 20 years.
Not knowing how to spell can result in challenging reading comprehension. With worsening reading skills, students may struggle to articulate themselves, making it difficult to enter higher education or the workforce, and challenges in society.
In an age when technology and spell-check features are integral parts of daily life, Reid hopes students will still build their analog skills.
“Technology is great, I would never say it’s not, but it’s very important for them to be able to spell,” she said. “What if your spellcheck doesn’t work? What if your GPS doesn’t work? Technology is great, but you still want to have the basic skills that we all grew up with.”