On Thursday, students from across the region will compete in the Annual Allen County Spelling Bee. The students make up a variety of public, private and home schools, coming together to put their spelling chops on display.
“My name is Ishan Ramrakhiani, I’m in sixth grade and I go to Canterbury Middle School.”
Ishan is the Allen County Spelling Bee finalist from Canterbury Middle School. This week, he’ll compete against forty-eight other finalists from the region at Purdue University Fort Wayne.
While this isn’t his first Bee, Ishan anticipates a harder competition.
“I won the school one. That was hard and, well, the list is way bigger for the county Spelling Bee. So, it takes a lot more practice.”
Practice for the bee is a daily occurrence for Ishan, much like homework or his after school programs. He says homework and other activities -- such as swim team, tennis and piano -- come first, but he has to make time to study his spelling.
Scripps National Spelling Bee has created tools that help students with that practice.
“There’s an app called Word Club that they released and so, you can practice on the app and there’s flashcards and you can also, sort of like a spelling test, you can make it say it to you and then you can type it.”
Ishan started participating in Spelling Bees in third grade. Participation was mandatory, but he enjoyed it and decided to continue competing.
On the day of competitions, Ishan says it’s nerve wracking.
“Well, I really try to get there early and then I just pace. And then, when the Bee starts, it’s even more nerve wracking. And you keep thinking that the people are gonna stay in and then it’s gonna go off the list and into the dictionary and then you’ll get out. But it doesn’t happen.”
Looking back on his competitions, Ishan reflects on the hardest word he’s encountered…
“It’s like gyttja and it’s spelled G-Y-T-T-J-A.”
The word "gyttja" means sediment rich in organic matter deposited at the bottom of a eutrophic lake, according to dictionary.com.
Ishan will compete in the county-wide Spelling Bee this Thursday at six P.M. at the Rhinehart Music Center.