Spell of the ball: Hancock County student wins Maine State Spelling Bee
Mar. 22—BRUNSWICK — Seventh grader Esme Filippo from The Bay School in Hancock County is headed to the nation's most prestigious spelling bee after securing a win on Saturday at the Maine State Spelling Bee with the word "domesticity."
Saturday's competition, held at Bowdoin College in Brunswick and presented by the Maine Trust for Local News, lasted 22 rounds and featured 13 middle school-age students from 13 different counties.
The annual Maine State Spelling Bee determines which of the state's savviest spellers will go on to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Maryland, in May. Students qualified for the state bee through winning their school and county competitions.
Filippo and her parents were thrilled following her win and excited to make the trip to the Scripps bee.
"My friends said they'd watch me on TV," Filippo said.
The contest kicked off with a few perfect rounds. Competitors slowly tapered off as they attempted to spell more and more difficult words. There were some tough misses, like "kernel" spelled "colonel" and "phishing" spelled "fishing."
Former longtime Press Herald sports writer Glenn Jordan led the judging team alongside his wife, Nancy Jordan, managing editor at National Geographic Learning English Language Teaching. Jeannine Uzzi, Thomas College president, served as the word pronouncer.
"I think it's great for them to stand on stage in front of a microphone, and you're pretty vulnerable out there," said Glenn Jordan, who has been judging the Maine State Spelling Bee for about a decade. "And some kids really love spelling; it's fun for them to learn words and learn about words and languages."
At the round 10 break, there were just five spellers remaining in the bee. Students could ask for clarification on definitions, word origins and word use — but the spelling was all them.
Kytanna Loring, an eighth grader at Central Middle School in Corinth, represented Penobscot County and was among the final few spellers. Loring won second place in her school bee, qualifying for the Penobscot County bee, which she won.
"I like trying to memorize all the letters, trying to guess what the words are going to be that they're going to ask. I think it's very fun," Loring said.
Nerves were high leading up to the big competition.
"I'm incredibly nervous. I'm also excited," Loring said before getting on stage. "This is an amazing opportunity, but I definitely got some jitters."
By the time the competition whittled away to the final two contestants — Filippo from Hancock and sixth grader Addie Rosato, representing Cape Elizabeth Middle School in Cumberland County — it was neck-and-neck.
Both students made it through one round with the words "polyester" and "embryo." When Rosato slipped up on "chemise," Filippo had a chance to secure the win with "depreciate," but missed.
The two continued spelling for four more rounds, reciting words like "stegosaur" and "schooner" with ease. At round 21, Rosato misspelled "cochin" and Filippo spelled "pinnate" correctly, followed by her final word, "domesticity," and was named Maine's spelling bee champion.
"I did not think I was going to win; (Rosato) definitely knew what she was doing," Filippo said following the bee.
Filippo said she was studying her words throughout the car ride to the Bowdoin campus on Saturday. Her parents said she's loved spelling bees from a young age.
"She started participating when she was a little kid, and then COVID hit, and she didn't for a while," said her mom, Alison Rudel. "This year, at her school, she actually requested that they do the spelling bee, because they don't always."
Filippo will head to the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 27-29 for a chance of taking the win — and the $50,000 prize — home to Maine. The finals will air live on the ION network.
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