Spelling bees are highly competitive, but their purpose is to educate and improve the language skills of their participants. “The more they understand about language, the greater their language acquisition will be,” said Lydia Cordero, the English chair of Clarke and Woodland, who helped organize both school bees for the second consecutive year.

The bees begin in English classrooms before the finalists compete in the schoolwide competition. This year, Clarke had 27 finalists, and Woodland had 19.
Cordero said that by learning word origins and languages’ different patterns and rules, children learn very important skills in a fun and interactive way. “It promotes learning,” she said. “In the past, kids who win the spelling bee have moved on to be professionals.”

And both Naman and Abel learned a little something about themselves along the way. “You need determination to do both — to study and to win spelling bees,” said Naman. “You also need confidence to do well.

“I was like, if I can learn so many words, I can study for the next level,” added Abel. “So I keep studying every night.”