Spelling Bee allows all contestants to win
The annual Spelling Bee left every participant a little better-off.
Thursday, members of the Student Academic Council met at the Sunburst Lounge in the Taggart Student Center and set up chairs, 180 prizes and a table that waited for participants to sign up. Within 30 minutes before the competition, the list grew from 30 to more than 70 contestants.
Students sat, dictionaries in hand, as they quizzed each other on words that would hopefully help them win. Some surrounded the refreshment table where free Smarties and lemonade gave people like Tagg Archibald the energy to compete.
“I have to get hydrated before the big event,” he said.
A senior in secondary education, Archibald said he wanted to compete to “support the Student Academic Council or the SAC if you will.”
A self-proclaimed professional “spelling bee-er,” Archibald said he had competed in both fourth and seventh grade, but lost when asked to spell the words ‘raccoon’ and ‘axle.’
“I know how to spell both of those words now, so as long as the words aren’t that hard, I’ll be OK,” Archibald said.
As it turned out, the selected Spelling Bee words ranged anywhere from easy to collegiate level, and no matter the word, no matter the spelling, everyone got a prize for trying.
Cara Greenwell, a junior in elementary education, was eliminated after incorrectly spelling her first word, lieutenant, and still left with a navy pen and a coupon for a free Blockbuster movie.
“I really thought about getting the air-brush nails gift certificate,” Greenwell said. “They had good prizes and it was a hard decision.”
More than $3,000 of prizes were donated by the community and Utah State University Bookstore. From gift certificates to Cold Stone and Panda Express to gift certificates to a $150 portrait sitting, prizes were definitely worth the effort of spelling.
Beginning with quarter finals, winners moved on to semi-finals and then the final round where 11 contestants vied in hopes of leaving with a banana chair or laptop computer.
History professor Mark Damen, was dubbed the master of ceremonies and led the final round with a special list of words relating to the season.
“I chose ghoulish, nightmarish words,” Damon said. “We’re not going to have a Spelling Bee; we’re going to have a Spelling Boo!”
And so the 11 finalists began, each spelling words like “requiem” “sorceress” and “poltergeist.”
As contestants got out-spelled, and the numbers decreased steadily – this Halloween Bee soon turned into three, two and finally one winner.
Cory Davidson, a master student in economics, walked away with the laptop computer, an award he didn’t expect to win.
“I had forgotten about the spelling bee and my friend just happened to remind me,” Davidson said. “I didn’t think I would make it this far.”
Runners-up Nicole Butler, a senior in English literature studies, and Eryn Stehr, a junior in mathematics, both received new furniture – banana chairs – and couldn’t wait to take them home.
Butler originally signed up just for fun, for the prizes and to use a little of her spelling talent.
“Unless I’m tutoring in the USU writing lab, I don’t really get to show this off,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”
Other than showing spectators they could spell, most seemed to compete just for fun.
Alyssa Lambert, a junior in history and political science, is on the Student Academic Council and was made chair over the spelling bee. She said she wanted everyone to feel like they had fun and got a prize.
“Spelling is fun,” Lambert said. “Everyone can spell.”
Erin Forsberg, a sophomore in political science and sociology, arranged the whole activity with Lambert and said this has been a tradition for the last couple of years.
-mnewbold@cc.usu.edu