Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
13-year-old takes home crown at state’s pared-down bee
Arkansas has a new spelling bee champion.
Avery Williams, 13, of Sheridan Middle School correctly spelled “obtenebrate,” a Latin word meaning “to darken,” to defeat last year’s State Spelling Bee champion, Thomas Sinclair, 11, of Jessieville Middle School.
Saturday’s field of 47 spellers thinned quickly. During the second round of the competition, 26 of the 47 were eliminated.
The atmosphere this year was far different from previous years. Instead of chairs in rows with unlimited seating for guests, organizers lined the room at the Arkansas 4-H Center in Little Rock with tables for each competitor and chairs for only one guest for each of them.
“We had to take many special steps to make sure we were in adherence to all the pandemic rules and ensure the safety of the children first of all,” said Rob Roedel, communications director at the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas and organizer of the bee. “Arkansas 4-H was kind enough to work with us to let us take over their facility for the day.”
“We also streamed the event to a limited number of parents and guardians since we’re only allowing one in,” Roedel said. “We did a password protected streaming of a spelling bee, which in a typical year would never be allowed because those words remain secret until the bee.”
In the end, Avery and Thomas were the last two competitors standing, squaring off until one got a word right and the other got a word wrong.
After Thomas and Avery correctly spelled “cariogenic” and “cambio,” respectively, Thomas spelled “Mancala” with a K, giving Avery the opportunity to win.
Avery then correctly spelled “Aries,” the Greek god of war, and moved on to the championship word. He said after the competition that knowledge of Greek mythology helped him spell the word.
“I do study history,” Avery said. “I know a little bit of Greek mythology from backhand knowledge. It really depended on the language of origin. I’m really glad I asked that,” he said.
Though the final head-to-heads can last for hours, Saturday’s didn’t take long. Avery, in his second year competing at the state level, won in relatively shortly order.
“I am very excited both to be able to compete and to represent the state as a whole,” Avery said afterward.
Thomas, the winner of the 2020 state competition, was not able to compete at the national level because of the pandemic.
He won last year’s competition after a grueling five hours, topped off by an hourlong finals match between him the runner-up.
“Mentally, I’m excited to go to nationals,” Thomas said at the time. But organizers of the national competition canceled the May 21 contest.
The win by Avery, the son of Nick and Summer Williams of Sheridan, excited his mother. She said she was happy for her son to compete in a spelling bee, something she did twice when she was young.
Aside from qualifying for the national bee, Avery earned a $575 cash prize, a champion plaque, a 2021 U.S. Mint proof set and a one-year subscription for Britannica Online Premium.
Thomas received a runner-up plaque and a $300 prize.
Aiden Watson of Emerson Elementary School in Columbia County, Charles Johnson of Farmington Junior High School in Washington County and Samjay Ventala of Bright Field Middle School in Benton County each won a $100 cash prize for finishing tied for third place.
“We’re thrilled that Avery’s going to be able to compete in the national competition to display the strengths of Arkansas students and their abilities,” Roedel said. “I was disappointed that the winner from last year did not get to go on to the championship, but Avery will represent Arkansas well.”