One of Lauren's favorite hobbies is learning to spell words. She proudly learned to spell "chameleon" in kindergarten, and has had a passion for words since. She participates in the school's spelling bee each year. In third grade, she finished the 20-person competition in third place. In fourth grade, she finished second. This year she was focused like a laser, and she studied for weeks and weeks. She learned every word on the sheet, even the alternate spellings. She knew the hyphenated words, accent marks and the proper pronunciation of even the most obscure words (coquelicot, we are looking at you). She spent much of her Christmas break studying, and she caught an unexpected break when there were some weather days leading up to the spelling bee, allowing for extra studying time. She tirelessly went through the list of words, even when doing so took two hours each time.
As for Gracie, this type of thing isn't her passion, but she fully supported Lauren by calling words out to her at home and during recess at school. It was a team effort.
Finally, the day of the spelling bee arrived, and Skip and I went to school for the event. Although there has never been significant parent turnout for this, there were a lot of people in attendance this year, confirming my suspicion that Lauren's classmates had also used the weather days to study. She had prepared for such a scenario, and knew she would have to spell the simplest words VERY CAREFULLY to avoid making a simple mistake.
Ultimately, she did it. She got through the simpler words without misspeaking, and then she was prepared for the more difficult words. She was so excited to finish first!
Congratulations, Lauren!
2017 Spelling Bee
2016 Spelling Bee
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