This past Wednesday, December 9th, the Oratory Prep Lower School participated in the New Jersey School Middle School Consortium Spelling Bee. While I did not participate in this event, I sat down and talked to some students who did. But, before they could make their way to the competition, the contestants had to make their way through the tryouts.

The first round involved a spelling test, where individuals who spelled a certain amount of words right got to move on to the next round. The second round consisted of an out-loud spelling competition, where only three contestants and one alternate could move on to the final round. After speaking to Devraj Duttagupta about this round, he had this to say, “To me it was a very good experience but I didn’t understand Mrs. Crum’s accent. Also I spelled some words in the British style, which earned a wrong answer. I really enjoyed the tryouts, and I will try and get into the team next time. Patrick Windels, Matt Torrisi, and Miles Madigan got in, which was a huge achievement for them. I will try out and get into the next spelling bee.” In addition to those eighth graders making up the varsity team, seventh graders Sean McTernan, Jonathan Cranley, and Greg Lahr made up the JV team.

Upon arrival, Sean and Jonathan unfortunately lost in the first round of the JV competition. Greg moved on to the second round, but was eliminated. After a long fought battle, a member of the unstoppable Morris Plains Borough School team won the JV competition. Afterwards, they moved on to the varsity competition. Sadly, our three hopes at victory were extinguished. Patrick and Matt were beaten in the first round, while Miles moved on to the second. Miles’ encouraging run was prematurely ended by the deadly “slalom.” Once again, Morris Plains Borough pulled it out for the win. According to the contestants, both these victories were well deserved. Miles Madigan enjoyed his experience, stating that he was a little unsure at first, but eventually settled in and had a good time. On the flipside, Sean McTernan commented that the words in the first round were very hard, but the later rounds were saturated with easier words. Patrick Windels would also like to comment that on the bus ride to the event, they all watched Youtube comedian Boogie2988, otherwise known as “Francis.” Overall, it seems that the spelling bee was a fun event, where our students got to push themselves and found out that they could spell better than they once perceived.