None of St. Mary’s five spellers will advance to the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee after Saturday’s inaugural Maryland Sports Spelling Bee in Annapolis.
One of the last four spellers left in the contest, Mother Catherine Academy eighth-grader Aaron Gaffud said he “was fine” with representing the county at the bee. He said he prepared for the bee by studying a “couple of [spelling] packets,” almost daily as the bee date loomed closer.
Gaffud said he “didn’t like to brag” but he considered himself to be a good speller, and he was glad to compete with others at the event.
Gaffud’s last word was “aristocracy,” but he spelled correctly “empanada,” “acronym,” “amnesia,” “ravioli,” “apathy,” “Siberian,” “puma,” “diagnosis,” “fiery,” “spoor” and “cameo.”
Manny Gaffud, Aaron’s father, said he was very excited for his son to have the chance to compete and “very glad he made it” so far.
Other St. Mary’s spellers at the inaugural bee include Dynard Elementary fifth-graders Adrianna Kidwell and Skylar Comfort, as well as Father Andrew White eighth-grader Elise Cecil and sixth-grader Tanner George.
Kidwell said before the competition she didn’t consider herself to be a good speller. She said she was “not really nervous” but more “scared and excited” to be at the event. She said she wasn’t sure if participating in the event helped her public speaking skills because she doesn’t “like to talk in front of people” most of the time.
Comfort said prior to the competition that she was excited about competing but didn’t consider herself “a spelling expert.” She said “it’s luck” that she was at the competition because the original second speller from Dynard, Ryleigh Reese, had a dance competition to attend.
George said he was happy to be at the event, even though he said it was “nerve-wracking.” He said he didn’t realize spelling “was one of my hidden talents.”
Cecil said before competing she thought she wouldn’t do that well, but she was “proud to represent the school” at the contest.
Spelling bee winner Storrie Kulynych-Irvin, a homeschooled student from Anne Arundel County, won the inaugural contest.
The win marks the third year in a row Kulynych-Irvin has been the champion of a final local bee and qualified to go to the Scripps National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, according to a Maryland Sports release.
Kulynych-Irvin won in the 20th round with word “patel,” a noun meaning “the head man of a village in India.” She outlasted 24 other spellers from Carroll, Garrett, Harford, Kent and St. Mary’s counties and the city of Annapolis. The runner-up speller was Homestead/Wakefield Elementary fifth-grader Jaya Parsa, the release states.
Terry Hasseltine, Maryland Sports executive director, said in the release “Congratulations to Storrie and all our spellers for a great competition at the Inaugural Maryland Sports Spelling Bee.”
The Maryland Sports Spelling Bee was developed in the fall of 2017 to provide the opportunity for all students from kindergarten through eighth grade across 10 counties in Maryland and Annapolis, the release states.
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