I watched to the end and was on the edge of my seat hoping that none of them would miss their last word. It was the best way to end it - you could tell some of the kids were so tired they were about to fall asleep. Such great kids!

Looks like those who run the spelling bee are going to have to scout out the Spelling Bee Coaching industry's materials to find out what words the kids learn

The average viewer may have been stumped by any of the words the winners overcame in the final rounds, which included the likes of “pendeloque,” “erysipelas” and “aiguillette.” But Linda Tarrant, chief executive of spelling bee coaching company Hexco, said all of those words are included on common spelling study lists.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2019/05/31/national-spelling-bees-co-winners-couldnt-be-stopped-how-will-organizers-respond/?utm_term=.356c170daea9

Anonymous wrote:I always wonder, what do the kids do after 8th grade, when they are no longer eligible? What extracurricular takes their interest/time then?

Math Club, Chess Club, Debate, Model UN

I always wonder, what do the kids do after 8th grade, when they are no longer eligible? What extracurricular takes their interest/time then?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I watched the whole thing. I love the spelling bee! I am amazed at how those final eight did not miss. Unprecedented! It reminds me of how James Holzhauser (sp?) is “breaking” Jeopardy.

I didn’t click on your thread earlier because, on DCUM, discussion of the spelling bee usually devolves into bashing of Indian-Americans and tons of stereotypes.

I'm an earlier poster who said the bee was losing it's charm. I didn't want to go there and I really don't want to bash Indian-Americans, but the bee is also losing its charm because it is turning into a thing for only one cultural sub-group. I get that Indians approach spelling bees the same way whites approach soccer (as an example) but that also makes it less fun and makes it harder to relate to the bees.

So other ppl watch white people do things all the time, but on the rare occasion white people aren't at the center of it all, you can't relate anymore? Wow, ok...

I know two spelling bee winners personally. These are dedicated kids and more than that they have dedicated parents. They are super high-achievers not only in spelling bee, but also academics and extracurricular activities. They seem to be socially well-adjusted and they do value their achievements. I think being part of the spelling bee crowd means that they are socializing with each other too and putting in 2-3 hours of work consistently is the norm so they do not feel isolated.

My own kid is not interested in Spelling Bee but he connected with them through two different EC activities. These are surprisingly normal kids from normal families. Except they are also very focussed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone watching? Who’s the guy reading the words? He’s got amazing stamina. I’d be slurring my words at this point.

I think it was Will Shortz.

No. Will Shortz does the crosswords. The announcer is Jacques A. Bailly who won the 1980 Scripps National Spelling Bee and serves as the Bee's official pronouncer, a position he has held since 2003.

Thank you. Those two have very similar sounding voices!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it is a mistake to have 8 winners. It is part of our superlative and qualitative culture where every kid gets a ribbon and we don't want anyone to feel like they lost or left out. I don't see why those 8 are more special and deserving than the other thousand or so who were defeated earlier in the competition. The children should keep being quizzed on words until there is a winner. IMO it is a big mistake to award the championship to 8 children.

They ran out of words to give the kids. They weren’t doing it to be nice.

I understand that and I'm not saying this to argue with you but...really...they ran out of words? Quick, someone pull up Miriam Webster online. Not joking. You stop the action for the day, the grownups work all night to pull new, more difficult words and then you begin again the next morning. We don't have a lack of words in this country! Apparently we do have some grownups at Scripps who were unprepared for their contestant group size. Shame on them.

Anonymous wrote:I think it is a mistake to have 8 winners. It is part of our superlative and qualitative culture where every kid gets a ribbon and we don't want anyone to feel like they lost or left out. I don't see why those 8 are more special and deserving than the other thousand or so who were defeated earlier in the competition. The children should keep being quizzed on words until there is a winner. IMO it is a big mistake to award the championship to 8 children.

NP. I've got no particular stake in this as I didn't see the Bee, but apparently this wasn't a case of "everyone gets a trophy." The rounds kept going and going -- and no one was taking a fall.

They either had to keep spelling until physical stamina, and not spelling ability, became the sole deciding factor, or they had to pick a specific time to call it done and give first place status to anyone who was still standing at that point in time. Not ideal, I think, but also not at all due to any mushy "every kid gets a ribbon and we dont' want anyone to feel left out" attitude. All eight kids were basically unbeatable at that moment when the competition had to end. Crazy but good for them.

I looked at the link from earlier about how to "buy your way in" to the Bee. If I read it correctly, it appears that these parents who want to send a kid do at least have to have the kid at a school that participates in this official program (or be part of some homeschooling that participates in the official nationwide program). That's at least a bit better than I had first thought, because some reports made it sound as if any family could just cough up dough and send a kid directly to the national competition with zero previous affiliation with the Bee as a program. Still, I don't like the idea that a kid might be able to bypass lower-level bees at any point going up the ladder; the rules sound as if kids can get on that ladder at a higher point than their own school spelling bee. But I might be misreading.

Our family is involved in a national level academic competition (not a spelling competition) and the rules are that you cannot participate except as part of a school-based team. Homeschoolers can participate, I'm pretty sure, but must be part of an officially constituted team of homeschoolers that follows all the same rules and goes through the same competitions. So -- no "local school" participation means a student cannot jump in participate solo or join a team that's from a different, participating school. I know the Bee is individual and not team competition, but the general idea of the competition we do is: Your school has to be part of the structure' that's your entrée into the program. I thought the Bee was like that and the rules seem to indicate it but I'm not sure. Any Bee parents out there who know?