Spelling bee not as easy as a-b-c, but these kids love challenge
One by one, 51 of the kids sitting around Gabriel Bolanos got up from their chairs, approached the microphone and didn’t return, leaving him under the glaring spotlight.
Gabriel, contestant No. 2 in the 2017 Houston Public Media Spelling Bee, survived to the final four in a cutthroat competition that eliminated 28 spellers in a single round.
Ultimately, just two would advance to the national Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The parents of the four finalists — Gabriel, Raksheet Kota, Pranathi Jammula and Shourav Dasari — sit on stage with their kids, willing the silence of the bell that signifies disqualification.
“I like to read,” Gabriel said of his preferred method of preparation. His mother, Elizabeth, would take him to the library as a young child to cultivate his passion for books.
“He has this love for words,” Elizabeth Bolanos said. “When he was 5, we saw the national spelling bee on television and he said, ‘Mom, I’m going to win that one day.’ ”
Gabriel has come up through his school’s bee at Aragon Middle School, then the Cy-Fair Independent School district bee twice before. Last year, he came in fourth in the Houston spelling bee with the word “Sephardic” — a descendent from the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula in the late 15th century.
The Houston Public Media Spelling Bee encompasses a region spanning from the Louisiana state line to Austin and Galveston to Nacogdoches that includes more than 100,000 kids from 1,151 schools, director Connie Hill said. The spelling bee community, at the elite levels, is fairly tight-knit.
Hill said the bee originally expected eight to 12 spellers in the final rounds, which were broadcast on Channel 8, but the first rounds were so brutal — another eliminating 16 of the original 56 contestants — that half of the finalists would move on to Washington’s competition. ‘Used to the pressure’
In the spelling bee community, Houston is known as a champion breeding ground. This could be, Hill says, because the regional bee puts contestant under so much pressure.
“We don’t give out practice sheets, and we’re televised, so the kids are used to the pressure,” Hill said. “We’re the first public broadcaster to run the entire competition in the area.”
Gabriel said the Houston bee was easier than nationals. In D.C., the same list of words is used as in Houston.
“Kids from all over the country watch the Houston bee in preparation,” Gabriel said. “It’s a mini national bee.”
Last year’s national winner, Nihar Janga, won the Houston bee as co-champion. Nihar, a fifthgrader at River Ridge Elementary school in Leander, is the youngest winner since Scripps began keeping records.
Having yet to reach middle school, the national champion is unable to spell competitively, as ruled by Scripps. Now, he says, he has turned his attention to geography bees.
Nihar offered some advice to those who will carry the South Texas torch to the nation’s capital this year: “Keep yourself calm,” he said. “And keep all distractions to the side.”
The final rounds of the competition are screened in a green room for friends and supporters of the contestants. Gabriel’s teacher, Teri Tidmore, sponsor of the school’s spelling bee, is among them.
“I’ve been supporting Gabriel for around three years,” Tidmore said. “We want every student to be like him.”
Tricks to remember
The contestants often use tricks on stage to remember words, visualizing them by miming writing on their hands or tapping their feet in rhythm. The questions they’re allowed to ask the pronouncer and judges provide just enough context. The first of the final stages comes to a close with all four contestants still in the competition. Gabriel is the first to be eliminated — with gamopetalous — in the next round, landing in fourth place for the second consecutive year. Pranathi Jammula of Austin came in third with a word she said she’d never seen.
“I knew words similar to it,” Pranathi said. “But I blanked out in the moment.”
Half an hour later, Shourav Dasari of McCullough Junior High in Conroe is the last one standing. Shourav spells “rafraichissoir” in his second championship round without hesitation.
“I just wanted to get it over with,” Shourav said. “I knew how to spell it off the top of my head.”
Shourav was a co-champion of the bee last year and placed 11th at nationals. Spelling bee director Hill said the only reason he hadn’t advanced sooner was his sister, Shobha.
Now a sophomore at The Woodlands College Park High School, Shobha Dasari won the Houston spelling bee and advanced to nationals three times.
Shourav’s co-champion, Raksheet Kota, said he plans to go back to basics for his training for nationals. As an eighth-grader, this year was the last he could compete.
“It’s really make it or break it at this point,” Raksheet said.
For Gabriel, his final time at the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee was a bittersweet moment, and a chance to move on.
“I’m kind of sad inside,” Gabriel said. “But I’m kind of relieved.”
Five years after beginning his training, Gabriel says the pressure is off. His little brother is interested in spelling, and Gabriel said he’s looking forward to helping him get into the national circuit.
“Win or lose, I’m really happy for him,” Elizabeth Bolanos said. “For him to share the same stage as these excellent spellers is an achievement.”
Shourav and Raksheet will compete as spellers #200 and #254 at the Scripps spelling bee on June 1.
“Here’s what I think about any speller from any bee,” Hill said. “They’re very brave. They’re risking what they know on a huge stage. That’s a lot for any kid.”