Scott's Spelling Bee Update

We drove home yesterday - it was a bit challenging because we were all exhausted, but we made it safe and sound.  We even parked in the same parking lot spot at the same Wendy's at Breezewood.  That's where Scott wanted to eat (again) and we indulged our champion.

 

People have been so wonderful and attentive and supportive (except for one idiot on cleveland.com, but we figure we can overlook his betise because he must be anencephalic).  Scott was on the radio on 106.5 this morning, and has been interviewed by the Sun-Press and the Cleveland Jewish News.  There was an awesome picture on Saturday's front page Plain Dealer, but they mistakenly said he had tied for 8th.  He tied for 4th.  We are really excited to watch the TIVO'd programs at some point.

 

I would like to add my thanks to everyone who has been supportive of this adventure.  It was really fantastic.  I encourage anyone who has a dream to do something like this to follow it - it can be a wild ride, but it can be well worth it.  Erick and I can say without reservation that participating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee has contributed to making Scott the man he is growing into.  He is gracious and composed.  He is compassionate and fun-loving.  And he has such a vocabulary...

 

Next year, the National Vocabulary Championship! (Would that be considered double-dipping?)

 

Until then-

Erica

 

The awards banquet started at 7 pm.  The families of the top finishers had tables in the front.  We were honored to sit with Sameer Mishra's parents.  They are lovely people, and Sameer is a great kid.  And it DID sound like Jacques said, "Numnuts" to me, too!  At 7 pm, the twelve finalists made their way on stage to cheers.  They were sitting with staff member interspersed.  The National Color Guard marched in and we sang the Star Spangled Banner.

 

As we ate, they flashed each kid's picture, name, number, sponsor, and rank up on huge screens to the right and left of the stage.  They also set up screen so the kids on the dais could see as well (last year, they couldn't see).  Then we had a video which showed clips of selected kids, including Scott reading the Plain Dealer on the floor at 18 months old, or so.  The aversion to the elevator ding also made it, and that was quite popular.  Then Paul Loeffler, who was a former staff member and Bee finalist, whose sister is still a staff member, and who currently works as an ESPN analyst, gave the keynote address.  He invited Scott, as well as several other spellers, to join him and spell some words in illustration.  There were then recognition speeches for each of the finalists which were so well written and captured the essence of each kid.  Finally, Sameer made a very nice speech, and received his guerdon.  It was a really nice evening, and was the culmination of these kids' hard work.

 

After the banquet, there is a party for the kids.  Scott spent quite a bit of time exchanging autographs.  There were many people who came up to him and said he had been their favorite, which really made him feel good.  He didn't make it upstairs til midnight or so.

 

Erica

So what does a championship speller do for fun?  He begs his parents to go to the Library of Congress.  We took a tour of the Thomas Jefferson building of the Library of Congress.  It was fascinating.  I must confess, it is hard to break the habit of looking for cool words in exhibits, though.  Then we went to this wonderful restaurant we found last year, Zaytinya, which serves Greek, Lebanese and Turkish food.  We got settled at our table and the heavens broke open.  Which was a little funny, considering we had pulled Alex away from the TV to go out that morning, and he had been watching Evan Almighty.  We were lucky that the rain finally let up, because I was ready to fall asleep in my food, I was so desperate for a nap.  We dodged the last raindrops and got back to the Hyatt to rest before the awards banquet.

 

Erica

In Round 11, I received the word "thymele," a Greek word that I'd never heard or seen before. I thought carefully about the spelling of the word and I came to terms with the fact that this word would probably be my Waterloo. With a sinking heart, I attempted to spell the word, which means "an ancient Greek altar; especially : a small altar of Dionysus standing in the middle of the orchestra of a theater," and my error came when I spelled it "thymale" instead of "thymele." Although I was initially upset and even more so when I realized I could spell almost every single championship word, I have realized that I have done a good job just to tie for 4th place in the nation. I have also realized people were rooting for me to win and many people also thought I was going to. Some of my fellow spellers said they were in the Scott Remer fan club. I was touched by the outpouring of support from the audience and my friends. I am glad that I have represented Cleveland, Ohio, and the Plain Dealer well, and I am looking forward to the awards banquet tomorrow.

 

Until then,

Scott

In Round 10, I was given the word "lemel," meaning "metal filings," from Middle English lemaille from Old French limer to file. I had practiced the word before and knew it from the Consolidated Word List. It was a palindrome, as I noticed later, and I proceeded onward to Round 11.