Spelling bees are back. Can Tampa Bay make it 3 titles in a row?

Yahoo

13-02-2025

ST. PETERSBURG — Reid Pavlica came to the Lealman Exchange Community Center on Saturday brimming with confidence.
It was the Curlew Creek Elementary School fourth grader's first shot at a regional spelling bee, facing spellers representing 32 other schools from nine counties around Tampa Bay. He'd been studying words for two hours daily, with his mom quizzing him every night. 'I'm ready,' he declared.
But as he picked up some information near the registration table, Reid overheard talk that the two past winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Dev Shah and Bruhat Soma, might attend the event. Panic filled his eyes.
'Wait,' he said. 'Bruhat will be competing?'
Not this year. Past national champions are ineligible for future events, news that brought a sigh of relief from Reid. But the idea that multiple spelling champs could square off at Tampa Bay's regional bee shows how much the event has blossomed in two years.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the national spelling bee, which began in 1925 with nine spellers.
For the Tampa area and Florida, it's a chance to accomplish a rare three-peat. Only six other states have had back-to-back winners, with just two of those — Ohio from 1948-1950 and Tennessee from 1993-95 — taking home the trophy three years in a row.
With so much on the line, perhaps it's unsurprising that this year's regional bee ended in dramatic fashion, with all the suspense and emotion of a championship match.
'When you talk about Champa-Bay, it's not just the sports teams,' said Dave Egles, executive director of the Rays Baseball Foundation, which sponsored the regional bee. 'It's these local students as well. It really is exciting.'
Two years ago, spelling bees barely made a ripple in area schools.
'The year I won, Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School was the only school that did the spelling bee' in the Pinellas district, said Dev, the 2023 winner, now a sophomore at Largo High. 'And I definitely had to convince them to host the spelling bee.'
No one from Florida had won in 24 years. When Nupur Lala of Tampa became champion in 1999, her victory was highlighted in the popular documentary "Spellbound."
This year, 54 Pinellas schools held bees to qualify students for the regional event. Half of the contestants came from the Pinellas district.
Across the region, more than 110 schools participated for the chance to send a student to the May nationals, about 40% more than a year ago.
Kim Hill, director of student experience for Pinellas County schools, attributed the bee boom to the recent national successes of local students.
'I do credit when Dev won,' said Hill, who was charged with boosting participation throughout the district. 'It was that spark in our schools.'
Several schools began offering clubs and practice bees to help students learn about the words and how to ask the right types of questions to determine their spelling.
'The kids that participate are truly in it to win it,' Hill said.
On Feb. 8, as the kickoff for the regional bee approached, several spellers sequestered themselves with their phones, reviewing an app that provided potential words.
Others didn't bother, figuring it was too late to cram. They relaxed with family members and friends, though some did talk strategy.
A couple of children prayed.
Many of them knew about Tampa Bay's recent history in the national bee and the possibility they might have a chance to carry the torch.
Shrey Reddy, a fifth grader at Pride Elementary School in New Tampa, said he practiced words whenever he could. That often meant skipping other activities — including spending time with his older brother, Krish, who joked that he wanted Shrey to lose so they would have more opportunity to play.
'It's overwhelming,' said their dad, Deepak Ranganathan.
But Shrey wanted to go for it.
'I'm doing it because it can help me learn new vocabulary,' he said. 'And it's an opportunity of going to Washington, D.C., maybe.'
Others came to the bee for their love of words — and competition.
Gia Sanchez, a fourth grader at Citrus Ridge Elementary in Davenport, said she had been working on word origins to improve her skills, studying with her parents and teachers to prepare. Spelling isn't her favorite activity, she said, but 'I don't have that many choices at my age. I like winning.'
As the contestants lined up to take the stage, Bruhat welcomed them. He acknowledged their efforts and their nerves.
'Just getting here is a great moment,' he said. 'So congratulations to everyone, and good luck.'
Things started smoothly with some of the easier words on the list: Gab. Wasp. Carrot. But what seems easy to one person, Bruhat noted, might vex another.
With each correct spelling came applause from all involved, including others on stage. A spelling bee is a community as much as it is a competition, they said. It's speller vs. the words, not the world.
Before long came the ding of the bell that signaled a mistake. Peddle misspelled as pedal. Fomentation with a ph instead of an f.
Some of the spellers left the stage shaking their heads, explaining to their parents how they had tripped up. Others departed in tears.
The tension onstage grew, visible in twirling locks of hair, bouncing legs, wringing hands. The students more frequently asked for definitions, sentences and parts of speech, using their fingers to air-write the letters on the backs of their name placards.
The number on stage dwindled — 24 remained after two rounds, 12 after four rounds and four after six rounds. Spellers were felled by words such as googly, gardenesque and financier.
By the tenth round, just two spellers were left. Amara Chepuri, a sixth grader from Bradenton, made it to the quarterfinals of the national bee a year ago. Vlada Kozhevnikova, a sixth grader from a Clearwater charter school, was in her first regional bee.
They were a study in opposites.
Amara asked few questions and used little time to breeze through her words, which included equivalent, bubonic and abominable. She later said she knew everyone's words throughout the event, but that didn't stop her from being anxious.
Vlada repeatedly asked for more information about her words, which included hallucinate, credulity and postural. She had the audience on edge as she would spell the words nearly to the end, then stop and ask to start over.
'I needed to think. I needed to make sure,' she later explained.
In their seventh head-to-head round, Vlada stumbled. She began spelling episcopal with an a. Amara shook her head before the ding ever came. She knew that her win was only a championship word away.
After she correctly spelled sashay, though, the celebration was muted. A representative from the national bee approached her father, saying there might be a problem with Amara's eligibility.
A teacher from her school had sent an email during the event saying that Amara did not win her school bee and shouldn't have participated in the regional.
Four days later, the Rays Foundation announced that Vlada would represent the Tampa Bay region in Washington, D.C.
Ananth Chepuri, Amara's father, had appealed the school outcome, contending it did not follow its own rules, and had been awaiting a decision when the regional bee qualification deadline arrived. Without a ruling, he said, his daughter legitimately participated and deserved to go to nationals. He said he presented proof to regional bee officials but felt they were ignored.
'I don't know what recourse we have,' Chepuri added, saying he wanted his daughter treated fairly.
Vlada expressed nervousness and excitement at the outcome.
'I'll really try my best to do good, and I'll try memorizing the words' spelling,' she said via email.
Her mom, Elena Stebleva, said the family is thrilled and grateful for the opportunity. She said she's anxious, too, because they know people might be watching the Tampa Bay area winner more closely, given the past two years.
'We're definitely nervous, because it affects all the theories of likeliness about who will win, and Vlada only learned English just for five years, and we barely know the language,' Stebleva said.
The regional bee is just a step to get to nationals, where it's a whole different level of competition, Bruhat said.
In the end, Dev said, whether the Tampa area notches another win is not the point.
'What matters is if the passion is there. And it is,' he said, nodding to the growth of spelling bees throughout the region. 'I'm glad that hundreds of kids can have that emotion and excitement of words that I have.'