On February 7, I found myself in the audience at the Dakota Wesleyan University auditorium in Mitchell, SD. On stage were twenty-seven students in grades 3-8 competing in that great American tradition – the spelling bee. The winner would be the lone representative from South Dakota to the 2026 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. On the group picture, my great nephew Oscar is easy to spot. He was contestant #10, the young man in the white shirt and tie.
There was a practice round to get everyone comfortable with the mike and to be sure that the contestants would repeat the word given them before they started spelling. The words were “softballs”. Oscar’s practice word was “raffle”. After everyone made it through, the real competition began. What memories do you have from your grade school spelling bees?
Word lists were available for contestants to practice. Oscar had been practicing for about two years. He would practice in the car on the way to school and in the evening. Besides the word list there was an on-line program called Spell Pundit that gave out words to spell. Last year he also made it to state but was eliminated in the first round. This year he was determined not to let that happen again.
As the contestants were given the word, they could ask the pronouncer to repeat the word, give the part of speech, the definition, language origin and use the word in a sentence. There was one contestant who asked the pronouncer for all the help allowed. She ended up in third place. Oscar? He would receive his word, repeat it and spell.
I spelt every word in my head. Can I spell as well as my fifth-grade great nephew? No! I missed my first word in the second round! Whenever Contestant #10 came to the microphone, I held my breath. As the rounds continued and the stage emptied, the excitement and anticipation grew. Now when Oscar came up, I was holding my breath and clutching my niece’s hand. The last few rounds it was down to two – a girl from Brandon and Oscar. Back and forth they went. On round 18, the girl misspelled her word. Oscar spelled his word correctly. Then came the Word of the Champions – arrearage. Oscar rattled it off without a second thought. Now he and Liz are going to Washington D.C. for a week at the end of May. There will be special events for the kids and a lot of hard work. Oscar has many written and oral tests to make it through because only the finalists make it to the televised Spelling Bee. Congratulations Oscar!
P.S. Last year all the SD sponsors pulled out of the SD Spelling Bee. South Dakota was in danger of not being represented in the Scripps Spelling Bee. Dakota Wesleyan University and the South Dakota News Watch, a small independent newspaper stepped into the breach. Thank you!!!
We all know how small independent newspapers are struggling to survive and how important independent reporting can be especially in a state like SD. Please join me in thanking the South Dakota News Watch for their sponsorship.
Enjoy the pictures and the South Dakota News Watch article.
