Spellers strut their stuff
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Kingston’s 27th annual spelling bee featured some words that would have left even the brightest Queen’s student or professor bumbling.
The regional bee took place on Saturday April 12 at the Ongwanada Resource Centre, and featured 30 participants between the ages 6 and 14, competing at the primary, junior and intermediate levels.
Some of the words featured in the intermediate level were ‘diaphanous’, ‘vicissitudes’, ‘zoetrope’ and ‘budgerigar’.
The primary spellers also had some tongue twisters of their own. The word ‘skirmish’ put up a fight in the final elimination round between winner, Nicolas Benavides, and runner-up, Meem Zulkermine.
While the first few rounds always feature words that the kids have practiced before, during the tiebreaker rounds participants can be asked to spell any word considered to be “age-appropriate.”
“So they may be encountering words that they’ve never spelt before,” said Lesley Benderavage, one of the organizers and a pronouncer for the intermediate level. “And then they’re just drawing on their memory from reading or use logic to tackle words that they haven’t encountered before.”
First place in each level have the opportunity to represent the Kingston area in a province-wide competition in Toronto on May 11. Something Nicolas Benavides, winner of the primary speller competition, is very excited — and slightly nervous — about.
“I thought I was going to win last place, but instead I got first,” said the 8-year-old after the competition. “I haven’t been practicing so much, but I still practiced a lot.”
Although studying a few hours a week sounds more like homework than a hobby, Nicolas said he really enjoys it.
To practice he will often play word games on the computer. And since the Benavides are originally from Columbia and English is their second-language it sometimes became a family activity, with Nicolas and his father Mauricio taking turns quizzing each other.
Nicolas got involved in spelling bees after hearing about it through a friend. He was interested because he thought it would help him get better grades.
But the spelling bee also promotes other life skills, such as public speaking.
“It takes a lot of courage to get up in front of a group of people and be put on the spot and have to think on your feet,” said Benderavage.
Organizers also try to promote healthy competition by practicing in groups throughout the winter months. “We try to always make it a fun and relaxing atmosphere for them so we’re not pitting one child against the other,” she said.
Benderavage said it’s wonderful to see the progress made by a lot of the spellers. “Because obviously when they start out they are very shy and nervous and they don’t have confidence,” she said. “And to see that confidence grow from year to year is terrific.”
A lot of spellers have participated in previous bees — some, like Zach Betts, have even gone on to win at the provincial level.
Zach, 13, won provincials at the primary level. After getting second place during his first competition five years ago he was hooked. He said he enjoys learning new words, and that the money isn’t so bad either.
“I think good spelling is a little bit like good manners,” said Benderavage, about why kids should participate. “You can get through life without them, but your life will be much richer and you’ll have many more interesting experiences if you can use good manners in your writing.”
The winners of the junior and intermediate levels were Dhruv Patel and Alex Chan, respectively.
