SPELLING BEE
dents first participate in local competitions at their schools. The winners then qualify for the Herald’s Bee and get a word list to practice.
On Wednesday, the kids shuffled in at about 9 a.m., some biting their nails and others playing with their hair.
Alana Kaplan — the mother of Simone Kaplan, a three-time Miami Herald Spelling Bee winner and runner up at the National Scripps Spelling Bee in 2019 — greeted them. She told the 25 children that her now 18-year-old daughter had participated in three Miami Herald bees and got words wrong at each one. It was OK, she said.
“Breathe slowly. Try to spell as accurately as you can,” she told them.
“I know we all look scary, but we’re not,” she added about the judges.
Soon after, parents and other family members walked into the room carrying signs and flowers. They snapped photos and flashed thumbs ups to their kids.
Simone Kaplan, known for her bee fashion, wore a white blazer with a gold-studded bee on the back, and was Wednesday’s
pronouncer.
Along with Alana Kaplan, judges included Heidi Carr, program director of undergraduate public relations at the University of Miami and a former Miami Herald editor; and longtime Spelling Bee volunteer Debbie Christie.
Juan Rondeau, a 15year-old Westminster Christian School ninthgrader who won last year’s bee for MiamiDade and Monroe for the third time in a row, joined the panel as the assistant judge.
Wednesday’s bee lasted for 15 rounds, or about three hours.
It started out with words from the given list: abashed, avenue, canoe. Four students lost in the first round.
At the start of the fourth round, the judges had run out of the words from the list, so they moved onto words from the dictionary. Although some, such as “chronological,” seemed easy, they challenged spellers because they hadn’t studied them before.
Toward the end, some of the audience members lifted their brows in astonishment at the lesserknown words, such as “gloriosa,” a plant, and “exegesis,” the critical explanation or interpretation of a text.
Judie ElAttar, an 8year-old third-grader at David Fairchild Elementary School in Miami, was the youngest participant Wednesday. She wore two bee ponytails and a bee-themed flared dress. This was the third year in a row that she qualified.
In 2022, she lost in the third round. In 2023, she lost in the second round. This year, she made to the fifth round and stumbled on “gnatcatcher,” a type of bird.
When she forgot the silent “g”, her dad, Tamer ElAttar, met her at the side of the stage and hugged her. Her mom, who also coaches her, was outside of the room, praying.
“We’re proud. So proud,” Tamer ElAttar said.
Zoe Quiñones — a 10year-old fourth-grader, also from David Fairchild Elementary School — stayed positive as she faced defeat: “Thank you for the chance,” she told the judges with a smile. “I’ll be back next year.
Some students got kisses and hi-fives when they met their loved ones in the audience.
Martin Cardona, a 10-year-old fourth-grader at Ada Merritt Elementary Center in Miami, received words of encouragement. He participated in the Herald’s bee for the first time this year and was the secondyoungest contestant Wednesday.
When he misspelled “compensable,” an adjective to describe what can be compensated, his father, Alex Cardona, put his hand around his shoulder and whispered in his ear: “You did great.”
By 11:30 a.m., at the start of round six, eight spellers remained on stage, which featured four red, blue and yellow balloon towers.
Sanchez-Izquierdo won at about 12:30 p.m.
Orlando Bodes, a fifthgrader at Archimedean Academy in Kendale Lakes, won second place.
James Reese, an eighthgrader at Aventura City of Excellence Charter School, was third.