Diocesan spelling bee a nail-biter

By J.D. Long-García | January 15, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

Toward the end, it was pretty clear that one of two Catholic students was going to win this year’s Diocesan Spelling Bee.

There was Jennica Dumond, the St. Thomas School eighth-grader who won last year’s bee. And there was Miranda Raban, a St. Daniel the Prophet School seventh-grader — the challenger, if you will.

According to her mother, Ghada, Raban’s spelling ability comes from her love of reading.

“She reads a lot,” the Iraqi immigrant said. “She reads day and night — even parents’ magazines and medical journals.”

Dumond — who said she didn’t study for this, her third diocesan spelling bee — also reads a lot. Both students are also fans of fantasy author Stephanie Meyer. Both students have been in Catholic education for a long time.

So, in a way, it should be no surprise that they finished so close.

About 30 minutes into the Jan. 27 bee at St. Francis Xavier School, only Raban and Dumond were left. In order to win, one of the students would have to misspell a word. Then, the other student would have to spell the missed word correctly and also spell another word.

The two girls spelled word after word. Perhaps sensing the irony, Dumond smiled as she spelled “chauvinism.” Raban, who wore a bracelet with various Marian apparitions, paused for a few seconds when repeating one of her words, “uninterrupted.”

Eventually spelling bee newcomer Raban was the first one to misfire.

“You forgot the ‘e’ in ‘pleurisy’,” her mother told her afterwards. But Dumond also misspelled it, so the competition continued.

Dumond had another chance to win when Raban misspelled “xylem.” But Dumond, who finished sixth three years ago, also misspelled the word.

“I knew ‘xylem,’ but I spelled it with a ‘u’ instead of an ‘e,’” Dumond said after the bee. “I just go too fast sometimes.”

Dumond said she didn’t enter the bee with high expectations.

“This year I was kind of whatever happens, happens,” she said. “If I don’t win, that’s cool. That means someone else got to.”

In fact, after missed opportunities, it started looking like Dumond wouldn’t repeat as the spelling champ.

But then, Raban misspelled a third word, “arraignment.” This time the defending champ stepped up to the challenge.

Dumond quickly rattled off “a-r-r-a-i-g-n-m-e-n-t.”

David Gonsalves, principal of Notre Dame Preparatory, read off the final word, “compatible.” Sure enough, the eighth-grader spelled it out, letter-by-letter, for the win.

“She’s a natural speller,” said Benedictine Sister Josine Krausnick, Dumond’s homeroom teacher. “She’s studious. She reads a lot. She gets involved with other activities. She’s pretty well rounded.”

Dumond said reading was key to her spelling ability.

“Just seeing the word helps me spell it,” Dumond said. “Reading and knowing what the word means helps a lot.”

Her parents said Dumond felt uncomfortable with the attention she received from last year’s spelling bee.

One thing’s for sure about next year’s spelling bee: eighth-grader Dumond won’t three-peat. Ninth-graders aren’t allowed to compete.