‘I promised ... I would be back.’ Second-grader wins school spelling bee, beating older kids
Sitting next to her mother while at the park, Judie ElAttar beamed.
The second-grader at David Fairchild Elementary School was wearing a blue shirt with “Loves to spell” displayed boldly, two black and yellow bumblebee hair ribbons, each wrapped tightly around pigtails, sparkly Santa Claus earrings and an infectious smile.
“Ask me how I felt after winning the spelling bee,” Judie, 7, suggested enthusiastically within seconds of the interview beginning. (After the interview, she said she wanted to be a reporter or a pediatrician when she grew up.) It had been just one week since she won her school’s spelling bee and her post-win glee was still evident.
After 20 rounds, Judie correctly spelled pell-mell for the win (the word’s meaning: in a reckless, confused or jumbled manner). It was the second year in a row she’d edged out older peers in the third, fourth and fifth grades to be named the top speller at the Miami school, off Southwest 57th Avenue, just south of Bird Road.
“I feel so happy and proud,” she smiled. “I promised the Miami Herald I would be back.”
In March, Judie was the youngest competitor to participate in the 82nd Annual Miami Herald Spelling Bee competition. The then first-grader was one of 24 students from Miami-Dade and Monroe elementary and middle schools who competed at the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines.
There were three 10-year-olds; the rest of the students were from 11 to 14. Judie had just turned 7.
READ MORE: ‘I’m going to try again next year’: 7-year-old makes it to third round of spelling bee
She made it to the third round before misspelling collegiality, but that didn’t keep her down. After the competition, she told a Herald reporter, “I am going to try again next year and I am going to be the top.”
The Herald Spelling Bee includes students from public schools, charter schools, private schools and students who are home schooled. The winners of the Miami-Dade/Monroe Bee and the Broward Bee — both sponsored by the Miami Herald — compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in early June.
‘She’s a natural’
Every year, David Fairchild Elementary conducts a spelling bee for its nearly 500 students, where any student from any grade level can participate — kindergarten through fifth grade, said principal Lucy Amengual.
The first step is hosting a written spelling bee in the cafeteria, she told the Herald. Then, based on a series of criteria and points allotted, the top 20 or so students are identified and moved on to the school’s oral bee, which is conducted at a later date, Amengual said.
This year, that occurred on Dec. 14 and lasted more than two hours. Judie will now represent her school in the Miami Herald Spelling Bee in March.
“To see [Judie] in the second grade do it again, it’s amazing,” she said. Despite often being the youngest student in the competition — and the nerves that can foster — Judie is “a natural. She’s not nervous. She takes her time and you can see that she’s thinking [the word] out” when it’s her turn, Amengual said.
For Amira Gewaife, Judie’s mom, Amengual’s support shows how helpful the school’s staff and administration are to students and even credited the staff with the achievement, saying she and Judie “couldn’t have done it without the team at the school.” Judie also made a point to say how much she loved her teachers.
Still, it was Judie’s win and hard work that had her mother smiling as big as her daughter Wednesday afternoon. The two studied every afternoon, sometimes poring over up to 100 words.
“I’m just so proud of her,” she said.
At the park, Judie talked about all the other things she enjoys and how she likes to spend her time when she’s not studying for the next spelling bee.
Her favorite foods are pasta and pizza and like most other 7-year-olds, her interests include drawing, reading and watching movies — she’s a big Harry Potter fan — to more active events like swimming, tap dancing and participating in musical theater.
For now, though, her focus is on the next spelling bee competition, which is scheduled to take place in March: “I’m looking forward to trying my very hardest.”
