SEABROOK — With the correct spelling of the championship word "leaden" in the last round of the contest, eighth-grader Jason Bowley became Seabrook Middle School's Spelling Bee champion for 2018.
Runner-up was Evan Gaffney, a seventh-grader who signed up to take part in Thursday's competition "just for fun." Evan missed the correct spelling of the word "telegenic" in the seventh round of the Spelling Bee, giving Jason the edge when he spelled "oceanography" right. The championship round allowed Jason his chance at the championship word. Although from the look on his face he'd never before even heard the word "leaden," Jason spelled it right and won the day.
Hanging on every word spelled for more than 90 minutes, SMS students gathered in the auditorium let out a huge cheer, and teachers and administrators joined in the applause. On stage, both boys wore rather surprised smiles, looking a bit bewildered.
The son of Jason and Nanette Bowley, 13-year old Jason said although he likes spelling, he made no special preparation for Thursday's challenge, aside from the classroom spelling contests that have gone on over the past weeks.
The son of Brandie and Bob Gaffney, 12-year-old Evan being runner-up in the spelling bee is a total surprise, he said, for he doesn't consider himself a very good speller. But his mom was more optimistic.
"I always believe Evan can fly in under the radar," she said, laughing.
Sixth-grade language arts teacher Dawn Olson organized the Spelling Bee for the school, as she has for the past 10 years. In classrooms from fifth- through eighth-grade in past weeks, teachers have held mini-bees, she said, preparing students for the annual educational contest.
On stage to pronounce each word to be spelled for the roughly 60 students taking part, Olson said, the first rounds of the Spelling Bee usually consist of easy words, but once the fourth round arrives, words on the list are longer, harder and trickier.
By the time the fifth round came, only 11 students remained, and the first seven were eliminated before Evan spelled the word "teak" correctly. Jason was the only other student who made it through that round spelling "contrition" right. The spell-off began in round six, but neither Jason nor Evan were successful with their words, leading to the seventh round, when Jason gained the advantage.
In February, Jason will go to Concord to represent Seabrook in the statewide Spelling Bee, Olson said. But should something come up that prevents Jason from attending, Evan will take his place.
When asked if they expected big rewards at home when their parents heard of their triumphs that day, both boys shook their heads.
"No," Jason said. "Maybe just something little, like maybe ice cream."