By: Aarav M. '31
The spelling bee may look simple on the outside. Kid gets a word, spells it, and sits down. However, it goes much deeper than that. Its essentially public speaking, but imagine this. You have 400 people watching your every move, judging every single second, and this is the game winning word. If you win this, people will remember you, if you fail everybody will remember it.
This year’s spelling bee brought out everything: nerves, confidence boosts, unexpected victories, and at least one moment where everyone collectively questioned the English language.
For contestants, one of the hardest things wasn’t the words, it was the wait. Watching others step up, hearing increasingly hard words get spelled correctly, and incorrectly, and realizing your turn is almost up.
Its your turn, and then you get hit with a smack to face, “spell hors d'oeuvres.” Honestly, on the list, the words were… doing too much. And when you can get hit with that anytime, it keeps you on edge all the time.
However, with the stress comes benefits. “Students get to challenge themselves and step outside their comfort zone” and they get “opportunities for students to showcase talent,” as teacher Mrs. Pendleton stated.
However, with all this a question gets raised, how long will the spelling bee last? The times are changing, and technology is changing the way people read, write, and communicate. With so many systems to correct your spelling such as AI, and autocorrect, people no longer rely on actually spelling, they rely on the system. Yet, despite this, teachers and students still think the spelling bee will live on but why is that? The answer goes deeper than you think. The spelling bee gives students experience, and skills, that technology can never rival. “Spelling bees should continue to be popular, bcause I think it gives students a great opportunity to push themselves out of their comfort zones,” as stated by Mrs. Rudolph ‘17. Also, Mrs. Pendleton added “I think the opportunity for students to showcase their talents is really important because not everybody will have the same talent, and spelling is a part of written communication, and its important to communicate in the written form well.”
Now, if you want to participate in the spelling bee or simply couldn’t make it this year here are some tips to up your game. First, “practice the word list that is provided to you and pay attention to your memeban. The word contsellenations on Membean really help,” which is a tip Mrs. Mattera ‘11 suggests. Also, “read books, the books had kind of hard words which help you learn how to spell over time,” which winner of the spelling bee Kate Juld ‘32 said was amazing way to level up your game. Lastly, Mrs. Rudolph ‘17 says “Continue practicing. Its ok to not succeed the first time. Failure is an opportunity for success and growth.”
In concluson, the speling bee is more than just a compitishon about geting words rite. It shows how studens can push themselvs, handl pressur, and stand in front of alot of peple without totaly fallin apart. Even tho tecnology like AI and autocorect is changin how we write and talk every day, the speling bee still matters becaus it builds skils that no app can realy replase. It teatches perserverence, confedence, and the abillity to think quick under stres. So even if the world keeps getin more digital and auto-fixd, the speling bee will probobly stick arround as a tradishon that proves humans can still spall things without help from a glowin box. (DISCLAIMER EVERYTHING IS SPELLED WRONG ON PURPOSE).