Boy Wins Spelling Bee With 'Serrefine' (Another homeschooler victory)

AP via Las Vegas Sun ^ | 31 May 07 | AP

[gobucks]

Evan O'Dorney always eats fish before his spelling bees. The brain food apparently has served him well: He's the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.

The 13-year-old from Danville, Calif., aced "serrefine" Thursday night to become the last youngster standing at the 80th annual bee. He won a tense duel with Nate Gartke of Spruce Grove, Alberta, who was trying to become the first Canadian to win the bee.

Evan won a trophy and a $35,000 prize, plus a $5,000 scholarship, a $2,500 savings bond and a set of reference works. He said he knew how to spell the winning word - a noun describing small forceps - as soon as the pronouncer said it.

Evan said he wasn't surprised to win, but he confessed that spelling isn't his top interest.

"My favorite things to do were math and music, and with the math I really like the way the numbers fit together," he said. "And with the music I like to let out ideas by composing notes - and the spelling is just a bunch of memorization."

[burzum]

If we were to reform our spelling, we would lose much meaning. How would you differentiate between sight, site, cite, and cyte?

How do you differentiate them when you hear them? By context?

A couple of examples from the Spanish language:
se: general purpose pronoun you use everywhere
sé: "I know."
que: that
qué: what?
de: of
dé: present first person subjuctive of "to give"

If it is important, you can use accents in some cases to differentiate words. But generally, you will use context. All of the above word pairs sound exactly the same, but they are easily differentiated by their context. The same could be done in English. We already do that for most of our words anyways. How many words that you normally use have only one meaning? And of those meanings, how many variations exist?

[burzum]

Studying for a spelling be is more than just memorizing a bunch of words. You learn the etymology and learn to appreciate the English language.

Do you really believe most students even understand the etymology of the word 'the'? From 'se', 'seo', and 'þæt' in Old English to 'þe' in Middle English to 'the' today? I doubt it. And why do we care? Do we need all of our students to be linguists?

[tina07]

I believe it was pronounced ser-a-feen...serrefine. I wouldn’t have known how to pronounce it either!

[gobucks]

It is confirmed at the Scripps Bee website...

[gemoftheocean]

Far from “stupidity” it’s called RICHNESS of the English language. English has borrowed from many languages, that is why it is such a robust language. There are many more nuances and choices to be had in English than in any other language. If the orthography can be difficult, so be it. You’re welcome to Spanish. No thanks. Not now, not ever.

[abigailsmybaby]

The definition seemed odd to me too. Some type of forcep. Just a strange word all the way around. Smart kiddle. I didn’t read the whole article. Was he homeschooled? I thought I saw that somewhere.

[KarlInOhio]

When in holy hell did Canada take part in America’s National spelling bee????? What the frick???

If Canada is allowed in, do some of the words have to be French? Can we have a North American Union spelling bee with both Spanish and French?

[politicket]

We had the privilege of sitting next to, and visiting, with the O'Dorney's during the closing dinner of the 2005 National Spelling Bee. My son was there representing Colorado (also a homeschooler).

The O'Dorney's are a great family and Evan is a really neat kid!

Congratulations Evan!!!!

[burzum]

Far from “stupidity” it’s called RICHNESS of the English language. English has borrowed from many languages, that is why it is such a robust language. There are many more nuances and choices to be had in English than in any other language. If the orthography can be difficult, so be it. You’re welcome to Spanish. No thanks. Not now, not ever.

I guess you're proud that English speakers have one of the highest rates of functional illiteracy in the world? Or that English speakers have the largest number of dyslexics? And if you really cared about richness, why don't you use the Old or Middle English spellings of words today?

[VOA]

Very impressive kid.

Agreed.

While I did drub ESPN Radio's "Mike And Mike" for their downgrade
"betting line" on Evan, I do understand it.
In athletics, folks generally look for "the game face"; to
"Mike and Mike", Evan sounded too non-committal to total victory.

And I do give ABC/ESPN/Disney for their coverage of the Bee.
I understand they are inclined to report on it more as a competitive
event in the style of athletic competition. I can understand an
executive for ABC being concerned about generating enough "buzz"
for something as "bookish" as a spelling contest.

[politicket]

As they always say "Chicks dig the Scripps!".

There's a really funny story regarding the 2005 National Spelling Bee. The spellers were assembled on stage for Round #2 and began spelling their words, one by one.

On the stage curtain behind them were hanging big letters that spelled out: "Scripps National Spelling Bee".

About halfway through the round the "S" fell off of "Scripps", so the audience was now reading "Cripps National Spelling Bee" -- kind of a funny moment, and good for relieving the tension that the kids were feeling.

[Betty Jane]

I don't understand the hostility some people have towards the spelling bee. Some kids enjoy spelling and learning words, just as some kids enjoy football. Not every kid who plays football will become a pro. Should we get rid of P.E.? Not every kid will become a musician or an artist, but still every school kid takes those classes. Some kids will excel and enter competetions and even have career in those areas. Once again, I don't understand the outright hostility on this board.

Kudos to Evan on his success.

[toldyou]

I have a 36 year old daughter who would have NEVER won a spelling bee...but she has her own business. She excells at marketing and has made one to two million dollars annnually for the past eight years.

She went to a public school, and when she was in seventh grade, she told her friends consistently that she would be a millionaire some day.

Success has nothing to do with home schooling, if you ask me. Could it be the will?

[politicket]

The problem with the spelling bee is that it proves nothing whatsoever about intelligence or what education system is best.

Do you have any other hobbies besides peeing in cornflakes?

[sageb1]

I’d be happy if people just learned the difference between your and you’re. ;)

[politicket]

Hopefully he has found a balance. I also hope that he has developed a sense of humor.

I know this boys mother, and he is certainly not pushed into anything at all. He is just a REALLY bright kid who desires to tackle the world. His brain is wired differently from most of us, and he constantly needs ways to exercise it. Evan is very well-balanced and has the absolute time of his life doing all that he does.

[burzum]

I'm not hostile to the spelling bee or the child in it. I'm hostile to the stupidity of our spelling system and the needless energy we spend learning spelling when we could have a standardized system. The spelling bee is just an example of how this stupidity is manifested. The great advances in English spelling in the last 300 years has been pretty much centre to center and colour to color. In contrast, most other languages have adapted at least to some degree to standardizing spelling and accentuation, with the Spanish language being the cleanest example. Are you really happy with having 12 ways to make the 'sh' sound, 14 ways to make the hard 'o' sound, 20 ways to make the hard 'i' sound, etc.? We have students memorizing hundreds of different ways to spell words that could be standardized instead of learning word meanings or other subjects. It is such a huge waste of energy.

[GOP_Raider]

The 13-year-old from Danville, Calif

Hey, I used to live there!

[politicket]

Success has nothing to do with home schooling

Success has everything to do with following the Lord God's will for your life - it has nothing to do with power or money.

That is why homeschooling is far and away the best academic option, since the public schools no longer allow mention of Him that created all things.

Congratulations to your daughter, but the Bible says that being a Proverbs 31 women is much more important than that.