Evan (10, 4th grade) competed this week in the Regional Charter School spelling bee and WON! He competed against 12 other 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders from 5 schools. This win qualified him for the Winston-Salem Journal (the local newspaper) Regional spelling bee in March. Whoever wins that one goes to Washington, DC, for the National Spelling Bee.

Realistically, his chances are slim. Contestants can be in up to the 8th grade and under 16. He is in the 4th grade and 10. He hasn't really studied to get where he is so far, but he will have to if he wants to advance any further. He has tons of natural ability, mostly because he loves to read so much and because of his love of science. He said before this last bee, "I didn't get myself into this mess!" Meaning, he didn't ask to be advanced just because he spelled better than the others in his class. His heart wasn't in it then, but he kind of enjoyed the recognition he's gotten after winning this bee, so he may decide to put some effort into it after all. We've decided to encourage him to study, but not to force him to. If he wins, we're going to DC, if he doesn't, we'll get there someday, whether it is through spelling or not. Now the pics.



Spelling a word correctly!


All three finalists were from our school!


The proud champion's best attempt at suave and debonair.