After recently spending a grueling afternoon competing against her classmates in a grade-wide spelling bee, Clarendon School sixth grader Melissa Rogers won the chance to compete in last weekend’s Hudson County Spelling Bee.
Although she didn’t win at the county level, she did show her talent for spelling impressive words.
The annual bee pulls together the top spellers from middle schools throughout Hudson County to determine who will represent New Jersey in a national competition in Washington, D.C. this spring.
Rogers won the Secaucus bee by correctly spelling the word ‘evidence.’
Sixth grade teacher Karen Bonin, who organized the Clarendon bee, said she selects words from the students’ coursework and daily vocabulary.
“I take old spelling books that we no longer use and pick words from there,” she said. “Then I’ll pick social studies words that they should be familiar with. Then I move to science words, and so forth.”
The competition takes an entire afternoon to complete, and goes several rounds before someone is declared the winner.
In general, words in the earlier rounds are relatively easy compared to those in latter rounds.
“I think some of the earlier words were ‘politics’ and ‘government,’ ” Rogers recalled.
Trickier words started coming in the third round, she said.
“‘Committee’ was difficult, and ‘avocado,’ ” Rogers added.
Bonin explained why such words can be challenging for many people, sixth graders and adults alike.
“I think a lot of students have a difficult time with all the double letters in ‘committee,’ ” Bonin added. “It frustrates many students because they start to spell it right, then they correct themselves mid-word, and they get it wrong. ‘Committee’ is an unusual word because there are three letters that get doubled. ‘Embarrass’ is another word that’s like that.”
The first “o” in avocado is also a stumbling block for most people, who tend to put an “a” in its place, especially when trying to spell the word phonetically.
Reading is fun(damental)
A voracious reader, it is no wonder that Rogers is a wiz at spelling.
“I love reading,” she said enthusiastically. “I like mystery books. Sometimes those romantic and funny ones are good, too.”
Terri Farley’s Phantom Stallion series is a favorite. And, in perhaps a sign of the times, Rogers said she loves the Twilight books, but isn’t really into the Harry Potter saga that was all the rage with tweeners a few years ago.
“I was, like, 7 when the first [Harry Potter] movie came out,” she said, “and I found Harry Potter kind of creepy, actually.”
Although many kids her age don’t like to read, including her own younger brother, Rogers said she encourages her classmates to get into the habit by selecting books related to hobbies and subjects that interest them.
“If they have a subject that interests them, they should find a book about that subject,” she said. “Say, like, they’re into jewelry-making, for example. They should try to find a book about a girl or boy who loves to make jewelry. They should find something they can relate to.”
Ironically, although English is one of Rogers’ best classes, it is not one of her favorites, she said.
“English class doesn’t appeal to me at all because it’s so difficult to remember it all,” she added. “Prepositions and synonyms, everything has to go to the minutest little detail. So I just find it difficult.”
She does enjoy creative writing, however, and said she could see herself possibly writing a play one day. It’s a future goal that could benefit from a large vocabulary.
“My dad always says if you have a good vocabulary, you’ll be able to command the English language,” Rogers said, “and ever since I was little, he has reinforced spelling because he’s not a good speller. I guess you could say I’m a good speller because of him, even though he isn’t good at it.”
Tripped up by Japanese sandal
In the countywide competition, Rogers was bumped in the second round after she received the word ‘geta.’ According to her principal, Rogers was very disappointed, especially since easier words came up later in the competition.
A ‘geta’ – for those in the Western hemisphere – is the wooden platform sandal once favored by geishas in Japan.
For what it’s worth, the winning word was ‘mendacity,’ which was correctly spelled by Joshua Casquejo. A seventh grader from West New York Middle School, Casquejo will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, commonly known as Bee Week, held in Washington, D.C. from May 26 to 28.
Reach E. Assata Wright atawright@hudsonreporter.com.