Jackson Ady spells ‘victory’ at spelling bee
Vallejo's Claire Naing takes second, also moves to state championship
Word: Flout. Definition: Openly disregard (a rule, law or convention). Used in a sentence: Jackson Ady seemed to flout any notion at the Solano County Fairgrounds that he couldn’t spell well.
The 11-year-old fifth-grader from Kairos Public, a Charter School in Vacaville, defied any notion he couldn’t come through in a pressure situation, winning the Solano County Spelling Bee on Tuesday night when he spelled “flout” correctly. Ady was the only contestant to spell six words correctly, going 6-for-6. No other person spelled more than four words correctly.
Ady will move on to the California State Spelling Bee, set for May 9 in Stockton.
“I was nervous but I tried to keep my chill during spelling bees or any type of competition,” Ady said. “Because that’s the way you win. You keep chill, and by staying chill you’re going to be smooth and calm and you’ll get it right.
“It felt really great, I’m just re
ally happy to win,” Ady continued. “I’m really happy for my opponents, because that girl over there, she was really good too and it felt great.”
That other girl is Loma Vista fourth-grader Claire Naing, who is just 8 years old. Naing, Ady and Selah Palarca-Camaya from Cordelia Hills were the only spellers to make it to the fifth round.
Naing was also happy to move on to the state championship.
“I was really excited because I can bring a trophy to my school,” Naing said. “I feel really happy. I think some of the words I had might have been some I practiced. I liked the event because I get to see others compete with me and it was a lot of fun. I can’t wait to tell all my classmates (Wednesday).”
The 44th Annual Solano County Spelling Bee consisted of 53 spellers, of which only 10 made it to the third round. The night was full of parents clapping when a speller was successful or unsuccessful. All of them seemed tense, often giving a look that seemed to say, “What the heck does that word mean?”
One speller let a big groan when he missed, but then smiled and said, “Thank you,” to the judge. Another participant was very vocal, asking, “What’s my word?” with authority. When he sadly spelled it wrong, the judge smiled and politely said, “You know, I’m going to miss you.”
While Ady is happy to move on to the state spelling bee, don’t expect him to stay up all night studying
“I was nervous but I tried to keep my chill during spelling bees or any type of competition. Because that’s the way you win. You keep chill, and by staying chill you’re going to be smooth and calm and you’ll get it right.”
— Jackson Ady, winner of the Solano County Spelling Bee
words he may or may not see in the next round.
“I don’t practice because there’s a lot of pressure added on to that and pressure is not good for anything,” Ady said. “I don’t like pressure for school, I don’t like pressure for anything.”
That said, Ady said he couldn’t wait to get to school on Wednesday to tell his friends he won a big trophy and will be in the state championship.
“I can’t wait, but I don’t think they’ll believe me,” Ady said. “I get to tell them, ‘Guys, I have news, I won!.’”