Want to boost your spelling game? Here are tips from the pros for future Bee spellers
Mark Schermeister and his daughter Christal — who have been involved in spelling bees for years — know what it takes to be a champ.
Christal, 21, who made it to the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2013, is happy to see a new generation of spellers.
On Thursday, 24 spellers in Miami-Dade/Monroe and 25 in Broward competed to become the champ and represent their county in the national bee, which will take place the week of Memorial Day at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The finals will be broadcast live on ION on June 2.
Juan Cristóbal Rondeau, 13, a seventh-grader at Westminster Christian School in Miami-Dade, won the Miami/Monroe Miami Herald Spelling Bee; Brody Santos, 12, a seventh-grader at St. Mark’s Episcopal School in Fort Lauderdale, won the Broward Miami Herald Spelling Bee. Students from first to eighth grades — from public, charter, private and home schools — participated in the two bees.
Read More: 7-year-old makes it to third round of spelling bee
Tips for future spellers
▪ Have a (figurative) suitcase and toolbox. The suitcase is to hold the words you know from memory and the toolbox is to help you figure out all the other words.
▪ Memorize the exceptions to the rules. There are a lot of them. “English is weird,” said Mark Schermeister.
▪ Memorize the list provided to you ahead of the Bee. The list is like providing the answers ahead of time, Christal said.
▪ Have a love for learning and a love for language.
▪ Always be a good sport. Bees are meant to be fun, the Schermeisters said.
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 8:53 PM.
