Young spellers excel from ‘a’ to b-e-e
African-American students show prowess at event
Houston has a knack for turning the pedestrian into the spectacular, and “beehive” and its incarnations proved no exception.
To most folks, a beehive is housing for life-giving insects and honey, Mother Nature’s original pot of gold. More recently, “Beyhive” has become a term for the fierce swarm of fans devoted to Houston-born superstar Beyoncé.
But on Saturday, 15 word gladiators dressed in Tshirts denoting their love for the components of the dictionary took on the form of an academic beehive, competing in the African American National Spelling Bee, the capstone event of a nonprofit group committed to training middle school students for competition and academic achievement.
Tension heightened this year with the final three spellers — all boys in sneakers, including two brothers. Who would take first, second and third?
While hearing the bell at school means class is over, a buzz in the beehive means you’ve misspelled a word. There were dings after “idiosyncrasy,” “duress” and “bequest,” as
“We are trying to educate our kids by any means necessary.” Robert Garner, founder of the African American National Spelling Bee Championships Inc.
nervous parents shifted in their seats and sighed in the Heinen Theatre at Houston Community College’s Central Campus. This year, the winner didn’t breeze to the finish.
The next guy up was a diminutive, bespectacled seventh-grader who stood close to the microphone for his voice to be heard.
Joshua Walker cranked out the word: “Rational. Ra-t-i-o-n-a-l. Rational.” No ding. The moderator said his spelling was correct.
The 12-year-old was asked to return to the microphone for another word — and his shot at becoming this year’s champion.
“Duplicity. D-u-p-l-ic-i-t-y. Duplicity.” Cheers erupted before the moderator could state: “That is correct.”
An ‘ingenious’ win
Now the battle was on for second and third place.
While Exodus Broussard hung his head pensively as he sat and waited on his next word, Joseph Walker’s demeanor brightened as he realized he had a chance to clinch second place and a twofer for his family.
Exodus made it through “subpoena” and Joseph Walker correctly spelled “quell,” which forced a final showdown.
Then, when Exodus missed “ingenious” by one vowel and Joseph sped through “proliferate,” it was a double win for the Walker family.
The soundtrack for the event’s final ovation was “Survivor” — a winner’s anthem by Beyoncé’s former group, Destiny’s Child.
Each spelling champ received his own sweet pot of gold, a shiny trophy and a scholarship — $1,000 for Joshua, $500 for Joseph and $250 for Exodus. The money will be deposited in 529 college savings accounts.
Robert Garner, a Houston real estate entrepreneur and founder of the African American National Spelling Bee Championships Inc., has organized events in Pennsylvania and California over the last decade. Children from Houston Independent School District, Crosby ISD, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, YES Prep Southside charter school and the Abiding Word Lutheran School participated in the bee this year.
“We are trying to educate our kids by any means necessary,” he said. “If you do a little research, we’re in last place in everything. ... Last in reading, writing and spelling. We’re just trying to do our part in the community.”
The National Assess- ment of Educational Progress, a reading scale that ranges from zero to 500, measures U.S. student reading performance in grades 4, 8 and 12. According to the 2013 results reported by the U.S. Department of Education, average eighth-grade reading scores for Asian students were 280; 276 for white students; 256 for Hispanic students; 251 for American Indian students; and 250 for black students.
Demystifying words
Garner wants champion spellers to be community rock stars. He hopes to expand the program with more financial support and volunteers.
“My goal is to be on (Black Entertainment Television), just like they have Scripps (National Spelling Bee) on ESPN,” he said. “I want to make education a sport.”
Jacqueline Terrell, the spelling bee’s executive director, said the group’s mission is to close achievement gaps by pushing students beyond memorization with word decoding techniques.
“You demystify a word when you know what the prefix means — when you know what the suffix means,” she said. “Sometimes the language of origin can help you, if you know it’s Greek as opposed to French. You’re not afraid of words. That’s why we have to do this. Black kids are in last place. We’ve got to do better.”
The Walker brothers attend Crosby Middle School and trained in Saturday workshops with volunteers and African American spelling bee alumna Angel Walker, their older sister.
“It really helps me in school sometimes. I can spell the words right,” Joshua said while holding a chocolate cupcake at the beehive reception. He wants to work in law enforcement someday. “I had a spelling test in my reading class, and I think I passed it because the words were really easy.”
Joseph, 13, said the training taught him “to pronounce words” and “know what words mean,” which helped him on standardized tests. The eighth-grader is aiming for a career in the U.S. Marines.
Ruby Reese said it’s amazing to have sons who are spelling champs.
“They work really hard. They get up early in the morning. They quiz each other,” she said. “The Saturday workshops really, really help. It teaches them how to break the words down. And it’s not just for the spelling bee — it takes you through life.”