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McDowell wins Frank Ohl spelling bee
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Frank Ohl's spelling bee room champions gathered for a pre-bee picture on Jan. 13.
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Even though the spellers were whittled down to a table of just 5 students, Naudia McDowell (at microphone) had no trouble spelling "persuade" to advance to another round.
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Before her win, Frank Ohl champion speller Naudia McDowell (center) kept looking back to her parents for silient support. The encouragement seemed to help her on her journey to the top.
By SARAH FOOR
In the way of nicknames, you could call Frank Ohl’s Naudia McDowell ‘The Terminator.’
“I knew right then that I could win it, because I knew exactly how to spell ‘terminate,’” she admitted minutes after winning the school’s spelling bee on Jan. 13.
After “terminate” stumped Gianna Hlebovy, McDowell spelled it correctly and clinched the bee championship with the accurate spelling of “vaguely.”
She will represent her school at The Vindicator’s regional spelling bee March 19 at Youngstown State.
About 35 Frank Ohl spellers competed in this year’s bee. Before the event began, spelling bee moderator Lisa Marucci gave the spellers some advice.
“Spelling slowly is not an annoyance. I would suggest you spell slowly so you can be thoughtful and get your words right. Be polite to your other spellers and just remember to relax and have fun.”
McDowell often looked to her parents for silent support during the bee, and the unspoken encouragement helped her breeze through rounds by spelling genius, muscle, amateur, magnolia and carburetor. The competition dwindled down to McDowell and Hlebovy, who moved through three rounds of correct spellings.
It was the ninth round that proved critical and that’s when McDowell sealed the deal.
McDowell has plenty of time to study for the regional bee. But she’s leaving nothing to chance.
“I’m going to stay up all night spelling words,” she explained.