Issue Date: May 25, 2008

Spelling Bees: It takes help to create a good contest

Local heroes who keep the buzz going

By Dennis McCafferty

"We learn so much about etymology, how words come from Latin and Greek languages." -- Kyle Barron

With next week's Scripps National Spelling Bee (on ABC/ESPN; check local listings), audiences will sense the same excitement that fueled the hit movie "Spellbound." But what they won't see is this: the following hometown heroes who have ensured that their local bees are a success.

The kid steps in
When Lisa Machado, the gifted program teacher at Neil Armstrong Middle School in Bethel Park, Pa., could no longer coordinate the annual spelling bee there, it looked like the bee would be canceled.

But Kyle Barron, 12, stepped in with his dad to organize this year's bee. There's a reason why Kyle -- who doesn't even attend Neil Armstrong anymore -- is so dedicated. He's a two-time winner of the school's bee, and he wants students to experience the same thrills he did. So up until February, Kyle headed over to his old middle school every week with his dad, Bruce, to help prep kids. "We learn so much about etymology, how words come from Latin and Greek languages," says Kyle, who's now a seventh-grader at Independence Middle School. "When Ms. Machado told me that she simply couldn't do it anymore, I wanted to keep it going badly."

Teachers in the hot seat
Teachers and administrators in Phoenix's Osborn School District are happy to "show off" their athletic skills all the time, staging basketball games with students there. So why, reasoned Sharon Moore, would they be shy about demonstrating their spelling acumen?

As literacy staff development specialist for the district, Moore oversees the spelling bee for Osborn Middle School. Last spring, before kids there took part in the annual bee, Moore persuaded 16 teachers and administrators to put their spelling skills to the test in an exhibition for students. "I wanted to model the correct way to figure out the correct spelling of a word," says Moore, 61. "If we showed them how their teachers could compete better by asking for definitions and using all the tools they could, the students would see how much easier spelling is."

Teachers and administrators were happy to help -- even if they were a bit nervous. "Some would say, 'Don't give me a word like 'verisimilitude' on the first round!' " Moore says.

It takes a village to stage a bee
For Diamond Herring, a 12-year-old sixth-grader in DeWitt, N.Y., preparing for a spelling bee is like going on an exciting expedition. "Some people have no idea where words come from," Diamond says. "But I want to learn about them so I can express myself better."

Although the Jamesville-DeWitt Middle School spelling bee once inspired as many as 40 kids to participate, that number had dwindled to 15 in 2006. Part of the problem was that the event wasn't exactly, ahem, spellbinding: Children participated by taking written tests. This year, assistant principal Michael Dardaris Jr. switched to a "live" oral format to mirror the suspense and excitement of the national bee.

In addition, Dardaris reached out to Mike Moracco, who oversees the local People in Action program for struggling families, to get more neighborhood children involved. As a result, 33 students took part in this year's bee events -- doubling 2006's participation. "We've made the bee a spectator sport this year," Dardaris says. "And when kids take part in a bee, they have more confidence to read more challenging books than before."