‘I was so calm and I didn’t shake.’ How a 6-year-old beat big kids at the spelling bee
Judie ElAttar spelled word after word without hesitation.
“I was so calm and I didn’t even shake,” said Judie, who beat out third-, fourth- and fifth-graders at David Fairchild Elementary School near Coral Gables to take the spelling bee champ title.
“That’s why I won.”
Judie is only 6 and in first grade.
”I did expect her to do well,” said her first-grade teacher, Alicia Thompson, at the school at 5757 SW 45th St. “But I was surprised she won the whole thing. Our older kids usually win.”
Judie will now represent her school at the Miami Herald Spelling Bee. The qualifiers are in February and the final is in March.
Her goal: to win that bee and represent Miami-Dade at the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, which brings together the top spellers from across the country.
While there have been some younger contestants, most of the kids competing are 12, 13 and 14.
Judie’s mother, Amira Gewaifel, said she was shocked as she watched her daughter compete against kids twice her size — and in some cases age. She said this was Judie’s first experience with a spelling bee, and told her daughter to participate because she thought it would be a good experience.
“When I am studying with her I don’t even know if I am pronouncing the words right,” said Gewaifel, who said she is having to study to help her daughter. “I was scared the older kids may have intimidated her.”
Judie is a fighter
Judie was born two weeks early and spent the first month of her life fighting for survival after labor complications.
When Judie, who has an older sister, was about 3, her mother took her to several doctors because she wasn’t talking or meeting milestones. After a battery of tests, Gewaifel was told everything came back negative.
“They told me she was gifted, and nothing was wrong,” she said.
Judie began speech therapy and then started to talk when she was 4. She now loves to read — her favorite book is “Harry Potter” — play soccer and “go on treasure hunts” at school.
“She’s not a talkative kid,” her mom said. “I think she surprised everyone.”
The Bee
Judie is four feet, two inches and 48 pounds. The other bee participants towered over her. The microphone got a workout, going up and down between Judie and the others.
Judie’s winning word in a showdown with a fourth-grade boy: “palpable.”
Her mother watched nervously as her daughter “wrote” a word in the air and then spelled it correctly for all to hear.
Her teacher said Judie is an excellent student, who is reading at a sixth-grade level.
“There is definitely some innate ability there,” she said.
Judie has already started studying for the Miami Herald bee.
“I am going to practice and practice and practice.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 8:17 AM.
