OWASSO, Okla. — Some of the brightest kids from across Green Country performed a long-lost art in this digital age: spelling.
Our 2 Cares For Kids Regional Spelling Bee tested their knowledge on March 8.
2 News Oklahoma’s Douglas Braff spoke with those at the judge's table and the winner heading to our nation’s capital in May about spelling their hearts out.
More than two dozen kids showed off their alphabetic knowledge, but only one can have the most.
“As a speller at heart, the memories of the losses stick with you more than the wins,” said 2 News Oklahoma’s Brodie Myers.
Myers speaks from experience. He made it to the regional spelling bee as a middle schooler.
“But I lost in the regional round on the word ‘earthenware,’” he recalled. “I got up on the stage and I panicked, and that word's haunted me ever since."
At Saturday’s spelling bee, held at Tulsa Tech’s Owasso campus, Myers took a spin on the other side of the table, helping judge the competition.
Before things kicked off, he said, “I'm gonna be working very hard to make sure they get every single letter correct. And if not, that's too bad.”
He was joined by other members of the 2 News team like Naomi Keitt, Cori Duke, Samson Tamijani, and Abby Reynolds.
Also at the table was Jabraan Pasha. As the spelling bee’s pronouncer, he made sure things were down to the letter. He read out the words to the contestants; gave them definitions and etymological roots, if need be; and ultimately said if the spelling was correct or not.
“This is, believe it or not, my fifth year, and I've learned a lot. I know that I still am not a good speller,” he told 2 News. “I'm always so impressed with the kids. This is really nerve-wracking, and they all do so well.”
When asked if he thinks spelling knowledge is a lost art, he replied, “I think it is a bit of a lost art, and I think that's why things like the Scripps Spelling Bee is still fun to watch and it's such a challenge, right? Which makes it even more interesting. But I know, because of autocorrect and computers, I can't spell nearly as well as I used to.”
After two hours, it all came down to the final round.
William Fuller from Wagoner ultimately won the competition, with Katherine Goldesberry coming in second place.
Fuller told us he studied intensively for eight months.
As the winner of this spelling bee, he will head to Washington, D.C. in late May for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
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