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Annabelle Day heads to national spelling bee
By Denise Dick
BOARDMAN
Two-time Vindicator Regional Spelling Bee champion Annabelle Day is ready to match her spelling prowess against the best in the country.
Annabelle, 13, of Boardman, who just completed eighth grade at Willow Creek Learning Center, competes this week in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
She became Vindicator Bee champion last March for the second-consecutive year.
She’ll face 284 spellers from across the U.S., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Canada, China, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan, South Korea and Department of Defense Schools in Europe.
This is Annabelle’s second appearance at the national event, near Washington, D.C. Last year, her score on the written test in the preliminary bee rounds failed to earn her a spot in the semifinals.
It wasn’t spelling but definitions that tripped her up.
She hopes this year will be different.
“I’ve been focusing more on vocabulary words,” Annabelle said. “We made cards with the vocabulary word on one side and the definition on the other side.”
She does that two to three hours per night with help from her dad.
Opodeldoc, a type of soap, is one of the new words she learned.
Rather than the written test, this year’s preliminary test will be multiple choice. A pronouncer will say the word and contestants will fill in the oval next to the right answer.
She’s a bit apprehensive about it.
“I feel like I’m going to second guess myself,” she said.
On the way to the bee, though, Annabelle; her parents, Alan and Dr. Trang Day; and sister, Tamsin; stopped in Louisville, Ky., for Annabelle to participate in the Geography Olympiad.
Because she’s been so focused on preparing for the bee, she hasn’t spent much time studying for the geography contest.
The contestants all get together Monday for a cookout and families visit sites around the nation’s capital in the early part of this week. Annabelle and her family will visit Mount Vernon, home of first U.S. President George Washington.
The bee’s preliminary round runs all day Wednesday and will stream live on ESPN 3. Semifinals, which will be live on ESPN 2 are Thursday followed by the finals that evening. Finals may be viewed live on ESPN.
Getting up in front of so many people still makes Annabelle nervous. She just tries to block them out.
What Annabelle most looks forward to isn’t about spelling.
It’s “seeing my friends from last year and making new friends,” she said.
She’s kept in touch via text and email with spellers she met last year from Oklahoma, Indiana and Tennessee.