Pinewood Prep students showed off their spelling prowess Dec. 3 and earned enough points collectively at the South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) State Spelling Bee to earn the school the title of state champion.
Flynn Davies was the state runner-up in the sixth-grade bee; Dylan Young placed third in the seventh-grade bee; and Polly Bagnal placed fifth in the third-grade bee. Other spellers were Habiba Abed (fourth grade), Lydia Cobb (fifth grade) and Lacey Ellis (eighth grade).
"We've got plenty of go-getters here at the school," said Pinewood Prep spelling bee coordinator Stuart McMullan. "As far as any sort of coaching of them, mostly my job is to just get out of the way. You just let them run with it and as you can see, it did great."
That's right -- while the adults help put together the schoolwide bee and get students to the state competition, the children teach themselves how to spell. They do this by studying the origins of words, using flashcards and having their parents call them out. It's a lot of work, but Ellis said it's worth it.
"You get to show off what a good speller you are, and it looks good on your college transcript," she said. "You get to represent your school."
Davies offered his advice to anyone who wants to give a spelling bee a try.
"If you get into the school bee, be proud of yourself," he said. "If you get out on the first round, it's OK."
Young said there are many benefits to competing in a spelling bee.
"Being in the spelling bee builds your vocabulary with all the words you didn't see," he said. "It also helps with public speaking because you have to spell the word in front of a crowd of people."
Abed described how competing at the state level felt.
"I was very excited and nervous," she said. "I was shaking a lot. I just took five deep breaths and gave myself a little pep talk."
She also explained her reasons for competing in the spelling bee.
"It's just a good opportunity to get into a good college," she said. "You would make your parents, siblings and friends very happy that you actually made it."
None of the students were older than middle school age, but all of them were thinking about the future.
Cobb said she wants to attend the best college possible and Bagnal said she wants to be an author.