Spelling Bee Puts Middle Schoolers’ Knowledge to the T-E-S-T

Do large words have you reaching for the dictionary or relying on autocorrect for accurate spelling? Twenty MICDS Middle School students didn’t have those tools when they competed in this year’s spelling bee held on Friday, January 21. “It was wonderful to have our spellers in person for this year’s Middle School Spelling Bee” said Olivia Halverson, Seventh-Grade English Teacher. She and Scott Smith, Middle School English Teacher, oversaw the bee. Halverson emphasized that “Spellers worked diligently to prepare for the competition. Scripps National Spelling Bee provides materials for students to study, including a list of 500 words!”

Abhi Madala ’26 won this year’s MICDS bee by correctly spelling “leviathan” in the 16th round. “When I hear the word that is asked, I try my best not to feel panicked or nervous, but it’s sort of inevitable to feel that way during a spelling bee,” he says. There are methods of settling nervous energy to help spell a word correctly. Seventh-grader Amey Parwal ’27 shared a few techniques, “I write the word down on my hand sometimes and I also try to think of passages from a book that has that specific word in it. In this year’s spelling bee, I got the word ‘weird.’ This was difficult for me because I always get confused about where the ‘e’ and the ‘i’ go so I wrote down on my hand and visualized it in my head,” he said. Getting to be a good speller takes time and practice. “I certainly have to practice spelling a word multiple times and also have to look up definitions and word origins if it helps me in any way,” Abhi says. “Spelling requires lots of practice and memorization. To master every single word is impossible, but a lot of practice is required to get good at spelling any word,” he concludes.

Honorable mention goes to runner-up Meher Dhinsda ’28 who was eliminated by the word “equilibrium.”  

Abhi will advance to the local spelling bee presented by the St. Louis Post Dispatch in conjunction with Lindenwood University, which will take place on March 12.

Go, R-A-M-S!