Jupiter 8th-grader off to good start in National Spelling Bee
JUPITER — Tyler Berndt, an eighthgrader from All Saints Catholic School in Jupiter, spelled both his words correctly Wednesday in Rounds 2 and 3 of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Tyler correctly spelled the word “affogato” (a coffee-based dessert) in Round 2 and then followed up by spelling “ruction” (a disturbance or quarrel) in Round 3.
The competitors took a written spelling and vocabulary test Tuesday, which was followed by the two oral spelling rounds Wednesday. The results of the test and oral competition will be used to narrow the list to no more than 50 finalists, who will compete today.
Tyler spends his free time fencing, playing computer games and constructing and learning languages. He also enjoys reading, and one of his favorite series is the “Dune” series by Frank Herbert. He hopes to be a computer engineer in the future.
But he also knows his vocabulary.
“You’re going to want to study. And, like the lady said, you might want to take some deep breaths if you get nervous,” he told The Palm Beach Post two years ago when he competed in the national competition in 2015.
Tyler won his first spelling bee as a fourth-grader at Macy’s.
Also competing was David Firestone, a sixth-grader at Hidden Oaks Middle School in Palm City.
David misspelled “wobbulator” (an electronic device) — forgetting one of the b’s in the word.
David, who enjoys video games, wants to be a software designer for a big medical corporation, or maybe a doctor. Someday, he said, he wants to build his own computer.
“I’m more of a memorizer than a speller. I rearrange the letters in my head. I like to take pictures of words in my brain and remember them,” David said.
The spellers range from 6 to 15 and include a 6-year-old kindergartner from Tulsa, Okla.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is an educational promotion sponsored by The E.W. Scripps Co. and other national and international newspapers. The 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee involves more than 11 million students.
The past three years have all ended in a tie so officials have some new rules. All finalists remaining today will be given a tiebreaker written test with 12 words and 12 vocabulary questions. If two or three remain on stage at the end of 25 rounds, the speller with the highest score on the tiebreaker test will be named champion.
If there’s a tie on the tiebreaker, the spellers with the highest scores will be declared the winners.
A comprehensive set of eligibility requirements may be found at spellingbee.com.
T h e Nat i o n a l S p e l l i n g B e e started in 1925. Of the 95 champions, 48 have been girls and 47 have been boys. WEST PALM BEACH — More than 500 government officials, lenders and builders packed a ballroom at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on Wednesday to come up with ideas on how to address a lack of affordable housing they say is hurting employee recruitment efforts and driving younger people to less-expensive locations.
Turns out, they fretted, paradise is less idyllic if you’ve got to live with your parents or drive from Martin County because affording a place to live here is hieroglyphics-hard.
There were more diagnoses than prescriptions, as speaker after speaker described the affordable housing problem as a “crisis” the county must address if it wants to retain its economic and cultural vitality.
“This is the most serious public policy issue we are facing within South Florida along with rising sea levels,” said Edward Murray, associate director of the Metropolitan Center at Florida International University.
“We are absolutely in a crisis,” said Craig Vanderlaan, executive director of Crisis Housing Solutions, a Davie-based housing support services firm. “That’s why we’re all here.”
Vanderlaan’s present ation, one of several from an array of finance, development and public policy officials, included a nugget that drew snickers and smiles in equal measure.
In reaching for a series of solutions to the affordable housing p r o b l e m, Va n d e r l a a n u r ge d county leaders to think outside of the box by thinking about using a box — a shipping container, to be precise.
Repurposed shipping containers have been used in building student housing in the Netherlands,