Drummond no novice to spelling bees WHMS student becomes 2011 spelling bee champion at West Holmes
Proving he was no neophyte when it comes to spelling, Drummond correctly spelled the word novice, which means newcomer, in the championship round, after properly spelling the word wrestle.
His effort eliminated runner-up Dillon Lykins, who was ousted after misfiring on the word reversible, in a spelling bee which was only seven rounds long, far shorter than in previous years.
Lykins said he could have kicked himself on his effort to spell reversible, stating, “I knew right away I missed it, because I know how to spell it. But that’s OK, because this is the best I’ve ever done in a spelling bee.”
However, overcoming nerves is a big part of performing in the spelling bee, where students must stand in the spotlight in front of many of their peers and have at it with words like glaucoma, misdemeanor and epidermis.
Drummond and Lykins, an eighth-grader, were joined in the final four contests by eighth-grader Freddy Booth and sixth-grader Cameron Lykins, the younger brother of Dillon. The brothers attended school at Loudonville last year and, oddly enough, it was the younger brother that earned the spelling bee title there in 2010.
As for Drummond, who did not miss a word and strode to the microphone with great confidence each time, his demeanor belied the fact that he did nearly no studying for the bee.
“I seriously did not study once for this,” said Drummond, who has a natural flair for spelling, having finished runner-up at last year’s Lakeville Elementary bee.
“I actually stuck my study materials in my backpack and completely forgot about it until this morning before the spelling bee.”
Drummond said that he enjoys spelling, and feels like he is fairly good at it, but he felt that the fact that the bee went only seven rounds this year made it so that they didn’t get into the more difficult words at all.
“I thought last year the words got super-hard, but this year they seemed a lot easier,” said Drummond. “I think half of why I felt so confident going up to the microphone was because I thought all of the other words were pretty easy, so I wasn’t that worried.”
Drummond said he has no idea what to expect from the regional bee, other than that the words will, in all likelihood, be a great deal more difficult.
“Yeah, I will have to study this time,” said Drummond with a laugh.
Sixth-graders Ethan Alverson, Brandon Cool, Drummond, Cameron Lykins and Tyrus McBane; seventh-graders Kinsey Martin and Abby Wagner; and eighth-graders Tanner Akins, Booth, Madison Chaney, Meghan Dawson, Logan Gallion, Brandon Kozak, Dillon Lykins, Maddie O’Donnell and Tori Smith participated in this year’s bee.
“Congratulations to all of our spellers,” said Carla Lance, spelling bee judge and coordinator. “I know what a nerve-racking experience it can be to stand up here in front of all of these people. It is an accomplishment to even qualify for this.”
The judges for the bee were Lance, Becky Meyer and Becky Elkevizth, and the pronouncer was Josh Wengerd. Drummond will receive a trophy at the year-end awards ceremony for his effort.
K12, a leader in online learning, and the Scripps National Spelling Bee have formed a partnership to reward school spelling bee champions with a prize, a free powerspeaK12 foreign language course. The partnership will offer supplemental learning and give spellers an opportunity to study language. Course choices include Latin, Spanish, French, German, and Chinese.