Congratulations to eighth-grader Noah Watley and seventh-grader Luke Tice, who won their grade-level spelling bees and now advance to the Orange-Ulster BOCES Regional Spelling Bee, which will be held next March.
Noah’s winning word was “memoirs.”
“I feel so astonished about winning,” he said. “I'm so excited about moving on to the county-wide spelling bee and if I win, then off to Washington D.C. I go to be part of the Scripps National Spelling bee and hopefully, I think, Minisink is going to get its first-ever win."
Noah’s advice to future spellers was to “study the words for at least 15 minutes daily."
Luke’s winning word was "imitation." He considers himself a good speller and advises others interested in competing in spelling bees to study uncommon words.
Both students will compete against students representing other school districts in the upcoming regional competition. To prepare, spellers will study “Words of the Champions,” the 4,000-word study resource provided by the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The winner of the Orange County bee advances to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
The word “bee,” as used in “spelling bee,” is one of those words that has never been satisfactorily accounted for, according to the Scripps National Spelling Bee Association. A fairly old and widely-used word, it refers to a community social gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity (sewing, quilting, barn raising, etc.) usually to help one person or family.
The concept of young people competing to spell words goes back to at least 1808, however it’s likely there were informal competitions long before then.