BEMIDJI — In the words of Spelltacular coordinator Sue Hendricks, every kid has their arena. For eighth-grader Wyatt Tverstol, that arena was at Bemidji Middle School where he spelled his way to a championship Thursday night.
For its 37th year of running, Tverstol along with 12 other student spellers competed in a total of 13 rounds involving words like “evaded,” “embrace” and “excited.”
Clearly stating and defining each word, making note of possible homonyms and using the word in a sentence, pronouncer Kate Pearson didn’t have to wait too long after she was done talking for each speller to do their thing.
The top four spellers faced off in round 11 with fifth-grader Saskia Bijnagte misspelling “Andean.” Nobody was eliminated in round 12 leaving three spellers for round 13.
For Tverstol’s penultimate word in round 13, Pearson stated, “this word has a homonym or could be confused with another word: ‘geopolitics.’ It’s a plural noun. It means the study of the influence of such physical factors as geography, economics and demography upon the politics and especially the foreign policy of a state.
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“The sentence is: ‘the geopolitics of mainland European nations are fascinating given the nations’ long histories and close proximity.’ Geopolitics.”
“Geopolitics. G-E-O-P-O-L-I-T-I-C-S. Geopolitics,” Tverstol spelled correctly.
In the same round, eighth-grader Ivy Blumenshein misspelled her word “feisty” and seventh-grader Lael Sanford misspelled “serum.”
Needing to spell one more word to secure his win, Tverstol correctly spelled “embossed,” which was met with a warm round of applause from the audience.
As the top four, Tverstol, Sanford, Blumenshein and Bijnagte will now compete in the regional spelling bee on Feb. 8 in Thief River Falls.
Tverstol admitted to no extra preparation or studying that led to his win, but that it felt pretty good to win anyway.
Regarding his future progression to regionals and potentially a state competition, he said, “it would be nice, but I’m not gunning for it.”
Other Spelltacular participants included Cadin Duvall, Harper Van Vynckt, Kayan Abdelfattah, William Westover, Nico Licata, Tony LaRose, Adeline Runningen, Grant Williams and Jeron Fairbanks.
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Stellar spellers
Hendricks detailed that every student in grades five through eight are tested on the same words with an initial written test. Based on that test, the top 20 to 25 students within each “house” at Gene Dillon Elementary and each “pod” at BMS take part in an oral competition to determine the top speller who will compete in the official Spelltacular event.
Representing their houses and pods respectively, Hendricks sees the Spelltacular as a different kind of opportunity for students.
“Every kid has their arena, what they’re good at. Maybe some of them aren’t star basketball players. Maybe they’re really good spellers and that’s what I try to tell them in class: if this is your thing, then take pride in it and do it the best you possibly can,” Hendricks said.
Falling in line with plans to retire after this school year, Hendricks noted her five or six years as Spelltacular coordinator, after which BMS teacher Erica McIsaac will take the reins.
Regardless of who is coordinating, Hendricks thanks not only the public for coming out to support the students, but also the students themselves for having the confidence that the event requires.
“It’s been hard for (students) since COVID to get out front and speak in front of people,” Hendricks left off, “so it’s nice that they are able to have the confidence to do that.”
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