By Audreya J.P. Taitano
For Variety

PUMPERNICKEL. P-U-M-P-E-R-N-I-C-K-E-L. Pumpernickel.
One word, four syllables, and second-grader Leon Ho’s winning ticket for a chance to compete in the island-wide Spelling Bee to be held in March.
After approximately 45 minutes of pronouncing, spelling, defining, repeating, and obtaining origins of various words, Ho managed to beat 28 other competitors participating in the Tamuning Elementary School Spelling Bee held yesterday.
The competition, administered to second through fifth-grade students, varies from school-to-school, according to Jacklyn Han, the spelling coordinator for Tamuning Elementary School.
But perhaps, more impressive than the fact that the 7-year-old can spell ‘pumpernickel’ would be that he held his own not only among his second-grade counterparts, but also the third, fourth, and fifth grade participants.
The spelling savvy second-grader described the Spelling Bee as a fun activity, which is probably a good indicator of his preparedness for yesterday’s competition.
“I practiced spelling words everyday at home from my spelling guide,” said Ho. Though the competition was administered in the school, the preparation was left solely to the students and the parents after school hours.
Han said each teacher in the school was supplied with preliminary spelling study guides to distribute to their students. The Merriam-Webster guide titled Spell It contains over 700 words which are divided into sections by language of origin, different types of study lists, rules and tips for spelling words in English, and various practice exercises. Han said this year, the Curriculum and Instruction Department of the Guam Public School System is very involved with the Spelling Bee.
After receiving the spelling guides, the students were tasked with studying and practicing the words for an in-class competition. “From the in-class competitions, there were 29 winners who went on to be the representatives for each class in the school’s Spelling Bee,” said Han.
The students were given six weeks to study the spelling guide prior to the school competition, which consisted of six rounds. During the first round, all 29 participants were given a word to spell. If a student spelled a word incorrectly, they were eliminated from the competition. Leon Ho was the last student standing.
Han said Ho will now be spending the next couple of months studying and gearing up to compete against other students throughout the island that also won the Spelling Bee held in their respective schools. This means he will have approximately 10 weeks to study in comparison to the six weeks given for the school competition. Han added that Ho has the option to study one-on-one after school with her as his mentor or he can continue to study on his own as he did prior to the school competition.
As general rules for the Spelling Bee, students are able to request the following for each word: a repeat, a sentence, the definition, the origin, and any other pronunciation the word may have. There is no time limit, though once a student says a letter in their effort to spell, that letter cannot be changed. While judges encourage the students to say the word prior to spelling and also to repeat it after spelling, it is not mandatory to move on to the next round just as long as the word is spelled correctly. The island-wide Spelling Bee will follow the same rules as those administered at Tamuning Elementary School.
Ho was impressive in yesterday’s competition—and ‘pumpernickel’ was just one of the words he was asked to spell. He practiced, performed, and even proved his capability to compete against the higher grade levels. That’s as good as any other reason to see what happens at the island-wide Spelling Bee in March.