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An all expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. was brought to Gabriel Cheeley by the word macramé — well, by spelling it correctly.
After participating in the North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee sponsored by Hagadone Newspapers on March 10, the eighth-grader from Post Falls made it to the 80th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.
May 30 and 31 are a part of Bee Week, when participants from all over the United States compete for the chance to make it to the finals on ESPN, and to win.
Cheeley only made it as far as the bottom two thirds of the competition, but still came a long way for his first time at Nationals.
He said this was his first time competing seriously, and decided to try at Regionals.
“I just like spelling because I read so much,” Cheeley said. “My mom decided to put me in the local spelling bee, and (I) ended up here.”
After winning the regional competition, Cheeley said the experience was fun.
“I was kind of surprised,” he said. “I didn’t study for Regionals, and didn’t expect to make it (to Nationals).”
Having only one month to prepare for the competition in D.C., Cheeley studied between one-two hours every day.
“I studied Greek and Latin roots mostly, and words from ‘Nat’s Notes’ — a book with formerly used words,” he said.
Cheeley said he had to suppress some butterflies in the competition.
“I was mostly just nervous, but after I solved the word and got it right, I felt better. When you’re just sitting there waiting to go on stage, it’s just kind of nerve racking,” Cheeley said. “But it’s still fun and exciting.”
Gabriel’s mother, grandmother, and eight-year-old sister accompanied him to D.C.
LeeAnn Cheeley, Gabriel’s mother, said spelling comes easily, and has evolved for him.
“Gabriel is one of those kids, where because he’s so smart he doesn’t have to study so much,” she said. “He gets everything right on his spelling test and he reads, reads and reads, which only helps his spelling skills.”
His mother added that a capacity for learning like Gabriel’s can be a blessing or a curse with something like competing in national spelling bees.
“He might have studied about an average of two hours a day for this, but the winners who make it to the final 12 positions are eating, breathing and living spelling all the time,” LeeAnn said. “Others go through dictionaries five to six inches thick, word by word.”
She was amazed that young students compete like this on a regular basis.
“It’s an interesting world–I never knew this existed,” she said.
Competition aside, the event was a place to make friends.
“There were some of the kids that were really, really competitive,” Cheeley said, “but there were some that I met and I made friends with.”
LeeAnn said the event is very low-key, leaving plenty of time for study, or for fun.
“(The organizers) arrange picnics and tours and fun things to do,” she said. “It’s high pressure, but two-thirds (of the participants) are immediately eliminated the first morning. For all those kids, it’s just a fun experience.”
After everything, Cheeley said coming to Nationals is something he wants to do again.
“It’s been really fun,” he said. “It’s a great experience.” He added that he enjoyed sightseeing, and visiting the nation’s capital.
“We would not have made this trip if it wasn’t for this event,” LeeAnn said.
She said this experience has meant a lot to Gabriel and others.
“It’s a very positive experience for the kids. It’s not a competitive spirit for kids — just wishing each other well,” Lee Ann said. “It’s been really positive for (Gabriel), and I can see why he wants to come back and do it again.”
Sponsors such as Leap Frog, Franklin Spellers and other companies give away prizes to the participants.
Gabriel won an electronic dictionary in his free gift package, which LeeAnn said he is enjoying very much.
“‘I’d like to go back and get more of that,’ he tells me,” Lee Ann said. “He loves stuff like that. It was right up his alley.”
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