As the crowd roared, English teacher Robert Jampol took the stage.
He quieted the audience and gave a short speech. After 20 years of being the event’s MC, he had the routine down pat. On his right sat seven students, the school’s best spellers. Today, they would compete for the 2009 championship.
On the far end sat junior Jeff Rubin. A returning finalist, Jeff gained a reputation for an excellent stage presence. Many audience members declared him a likely winner.
Next to him was fellow junior Caleb Marcus. Although a first time finalist, he was easily the crowd favorite. Every time his name was called (and sometimes even when it wasn’t), the crowd erupted into cheers of “Ca-leb! Ca-leb! Ca-leb!”
On his left was sophomore Adam Scherlis. Another returning competitor, Scherlis’s confident style and calm demeanor suggested a sure win.
Senior Jeremy You had the next seat. The wildcard, You kept his eyes on the ground whenever possible.
The last of the returning finalists, sophomore Ben Tolkien, sat next to You. Odds were high in his favor for the win. At times, it seemed his cheers were as loud as Marcus’s.
Besides him sat senior Matt Shea. Shea’s British background gave him a slight disadvantage as Jampol clearly stated all spelling must follow American form. This statement received a literal thumbs down from Shea. The clown of the group, his antics never interfered with excellent spelling.
Finally, senior Alice Li finished off the finalists. The only female representative, Li was a judge favorite. (On one word, ‘privilege,’ Jampol used the sentence “it was a privilege to teach Alice last year.”)
Two other students, senior Rachel Wong and junior Alice Lee, had qualified but were unable to compete due to a choral competition.
The contestants sat in the order they would contend. The spelling bee is based on rounds with each round getting progressively more difficult. Each student would get one word, a definition and a sentence to clarify the meaning per round. At no point could they get the etymology of the word although Shea did ask at one point.
Jeff began the constant by correctly spelling the word “Tsunami.” However, three students, You, Tolkien and Li, did not fare so well. By the end of the round, only four students remained.
Round after round, however, these students hung on. Shea mastered his first word ‘flamboyant’ with a grin, and Marcus tackled ‘jurisprudence’ with ease. In round three, Rubin was instructed to spell ‘fenugreek,’ a word that left the audience and the speller in stunned silence. He spelled the word in a shaky voice and looked unsure at the judges. When Jampol announced “correct,” Rubin victoriously shot his fists in the air.
By the sixth round, the four constants remained. After spelling ‘panache’ correctly, Rubin asked Jampol if he would like the accent mark. “As my seniors would say,” Jampol said in response, “I was just salted.” Marcus seemed to stumble on metamorphoses but pulled through with a correct spelling. By the end of that round, Jampol looked at the audience. “Put your seatbelts on, you’re going to be here for a while,” he said.
The next round all contestants spelled correctly. Tolkien, who was required to stay on stage, mouthed along with each speller.
In the eighth round, Rubin was stumped by ‘trenchant.’ He was the first out in seven rounds. Marcus followed suit, leaving only Shea and Scherlis.
Scherlis spelled correctly, but Shea got stuck on ‘phantasmagoric.’ His failure of the word, Jampol reminded the audience, did not finish the game however. Scherlis needed to spell both that word and a new one, or all four contestants would reenter the game.
The crowd was absolutely silent as Scherlis stepped up to the mic. Quickly and confidently he breezed through Shea’s difficult word.
His final word, ‘luminescent’, was announced. This elicited rolled eyes from almost all the other competitors, who appeared to think the word too easy.
He took his time, even saying “uh” part way through. When finished, he looked expectantly up at Jampol. After a moment, Jampol looked back at him and then at the audience. “Correct,” he said.
The crowd burst into cheers, and Principal Salzer jumped on stage to congratulate the winner. Scherlis just gave a sheepish smile and bowed.
