Random spelling bee rambling

Umm...so these girls were some of my favorites in the competition this year, all of whom are now officially out, because they're too old to compete next year.

Catherine "Cat" Cojocaru of Minnesota
Well, she does share my name, which is awesome! But she was so poised in the competition this year, and she did amazingly well, tying for 8th place. =] The word she got out on was bogatyr, which I didn't know the ending of either. It's Russian...but that didn't seem to help either of us

Cat concentrates on spelling a word during the competition.

Rose Sloan of Illinois
This girl is great. She never managed to hide when she knew a word--she immediately got a humongous smile on her face. And her reactions when she got a word right based merely on educated guesses were priceless. Like her, I'm so happy her sponsor decided to sponsor again this year! She got out in the 11th round on the word sheitel, which she clearly thought she knew. But she tied for 4th grade, an outstanding place. Congratulations, Rose!

Just one of Rose's many priceless reactions to correctly spelling a word during today's competition.

Jahnavi Iyer of Pennsylvania
Well, this girl always managed to make the audience and me laugh, asking at one point, "Are there any alternate words I can spell?" Great personality, very prepared, and very poised. She got out in the 10th round, and her word was another that I knew how to spell because of the French. It was parfleche, and Jahnavi spelled it "sh" at the end, again not making the connection of French. But, she tied for 8th place. Great job, Jahnavi, especially for a first year competitor!

Jahnavi is very happy that she spelled a word correctly. =]

Kaitlyn Johnston of Orlando, Florida
The main reason I enjoyed Kaitlyn was her big smile and how poised she was on stage. She was confident, but not cocky. But, the word she got out on, soutache actually was one I knew how to spell. I don't know if she was nervous or just didn't get the French "sou," but either way she did an amazing job. Oldest speller at 15 years old, tied for 17th place.

Kaitlyn concentrates on spelling a word, writing it out on her hand to make sure she knows the spelling.

Sade Dunbar of Jamaica
Now, Sade was the most polite speller at the bee, always addressing Dr. Bailly by name and asking him the questions in a polite manner. She was very poised, and I would have loved for her to make it to the finals, but she got out in Round 7 on hidradenitis which is very hard to spell, since, as she did, most people would assume it was a "y" instead of an "i." Still, she tied for 13th place and was the longest lasting international speller! Congratulations, Sade. =]

Sade practices spelling with her coach at her junior high school in Jamaica.

And, of course, as I mentioned in the last post, Tia Thomas, placing an outstanding 3rd place in her 5th year of competition. Congratulations, Tia, and keep working on that club helping younger students with spelling!

Tia tries very hard to spell her word in Round 13, but unfortunately spelled an "o" as an "e" and tied for 3rd place tonight.