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‘Eclair’ lands sisters in spelling bee
Siblings spell same word correctly to qualify for annual competition
CANFIELD
The correct spelling of the word “eclair” landed not one but two sisters in The Vindicator’s 86th Regional Spelling Bee.
Lily, 13, and Sophia Nelson, 11, daughters of Corrie and Mark Nelson, both reserved their spots in the spelling bee by correctly spelling the word “eclair” in their school bees.
The girls will be competing against each other in the Vindicator bee this year. The bee is next Saturday in Kilcawley Center on the Youngstown State University campus.
Lily is a seventh-grader at Valley Christian School Lewis Center, and Sophia is a sixth-grader at Valley Christian School.
“[Sophia] won the bee first, and I really wanted to win because of that,” Lily said. “I just had to.”
It is both girls’ first year representing their schools.
“It feels really good and an honor being a representative of my school,” Sophia said. “It’s a different kind of experience I haven’t done before.”
Rather than treating the bee like a competition, the girls have been working together to help each other study.
“We could help each other be better spellers,” Lily said.
Sophia concurred.
“It benefits both of us,” she said. “We are really into it.”
Together they quiz each other and mark when one gets a word wrong.
But despite the commonality of spelling, the girls have different interests.
Sophia plays basketball, piano and saxophone and is involved in a number of school clubs including robotics and Project Lit, a library program.
Lily plays piano and violin and runs track. She’s involved in a symphonette, as well.
Despite their differences, both girls have a love for reading, sometimes swapping books.
Reading may be the reason they’re in the spelling bee, Sophia reasoned.
“That and my grandpa helped me study a lot for the classroom spelling bee,” she said.
Regardless of the competition, the girls are glad to have each other in this year’s bee.
“I won’t be totally freaked out because I know someone there,” Lily said.
And they’ll be cheered on by two other Nelson sisters – Evangeline, 10, and Charlotte, 8.
“We’re really proud,” said mother Corrie Nelson. “They both have worked really hard to get this far. They’re pretty disciplined in getting ready for it, so I guess we’ll see. It’s all on them. We tell them they represent their schools and our family, and we want them to take it seriously.”