Post by Charity on Mar 14, 2006 11:01:37 GMT -5
Spelling Bee: Lord of the dictionary
Matthew Evans is the first speller in The Albuquerque Tribune Regional Spelling Bee's 59-year history to win three in a row. His family's exitement, however, is tinged with a bit of sadness.
By Jan Jonas
Tribune Reporter
March 13, 2006
On the last day of the Scripps National Spelling Bee last year, Matthew Evans' family received horrible news. The fifth-grader's grandmother had died in Albuquerque.
That year was Matthew's second time competing in nationals. His family returned to Albuquerque with a sadness forever associated with spelling bees.
On Saturday, Matthew made The Albuquerque Tribune Regional Spelling Bee history by becoming the only speller in the event's 59-year history to win three years in a row.
Once again, he's bound for Washington, D.C., to compete against the nation's best spellers on May 31 and June 1.
"We all didn't feel like doing this (again) last year," Matthew's mother, Helen Evans, said after her son's victory at Sandia Preparatory School's theater. "But by the end of June, he was at it again."
An 11-year-old sixth-grader representing the home-school cluster in Albuquerque, Matthew conquered the word somatophyte to take the regional title. The word describes a plant composed of cells that become differentiated and develop chiefly into adult tissue.
Of the 33 original spellers, 20 had spelled out by the end of the third round. Those 33 represented 20 counties and Albuquerque high school clusters in eastern and northern New Mexico. Counties in the southern and southwestern part of the state compete in surrounding states' competitions.
"It was harder this year than the other two, definitely," Matthew said. "The kids knew the Paideia (study book) well."
The 4,000-word Paideia (pronounced pie-DAY-uh) is used as the basis for the bee's word list. Bee officials took the final three rounds of words from the Merriam-Webster Third New International Dictionary, the 12-pound beast that is home to all the words associated with the regional and national spelling bees.
more
www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_local/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19858_4537853,00.html
Matthew Evans is the first speller in The Albuquerque Tribune Regional Spelling Bee's 59-year history to win three in a row. His family's exitement, however, is tinged with a bit of sadness.
By Jan Jonas
Tribune Reporter
March 13, 2006
On the last day of the Scripps National Spelling Bee last year, Matthew Evans' family received horrible news. The fifth-grader's grandmother had died in Albuquerque.
That year was Matthew's second time competing in nationals. His family returned to Albuquerque with a sadness forever associated with spelling bees.
On Saturday, Matthew made The Albuquerque Tribune Regional Spelling Bee history by becoming the only speller in the event's 59-year history to win three years in a row.
Once again, he's bound for Washington, D.C., to compete against the nation's best spellers on May 31 and June 1.
"We all didn't feel like doing this (again) last year," Matthew's mother, Helen Evans, said after her son's victory at Sandia Preparatory School's theater. "But by the end of June, he was at it again."
An 11-year-old sixth-grader representing the home-school cluster in Albuquerque, Matthew conquered the word somatophyte to take the regional title. The word describes a plant composed of cells that become differentiated and develop chiefly into adult tissue.
Of the 33 original spellers, 20 had spelled out by the end of the third round. Those 33 represented 20 counties and Albuquerque high school clusters in eastern and northern New Mexico. Counties in the southern and southwestern part of the state compete in surrounding states' competitions.
"It was harder this year than the other two, definitely," Matthew said. "The kids knew the Paideia (study book) well."
The 4,000-word Paideia (pronounced pie-DAY-uh) is used as the basis for the bee's word list. Bee officials took the final three rounds of words from the Merriam-Webster Third New International Dictionary, the 12-pound beast that is home to all the words associated with the regional and national spelling bees.
more
www.abqtrib.com/albq/nw_local/article/0,2564,ALBQ_19858_4537853,00.html