by Dennis Dalman
Fourteen-year-old St. John’s Prep student Emmaline Bushman correctly spelled her way recently to an all-expenses-paid trip with her family to Washington, D.C. There, in nearby National Harbor, Md., she competed in the world-famous Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The winner of the Bee was Faizan Zaki, a 13-year-old student from Plano, Texas, who spelled “éclaircissement” correctly after which he dropped to the floor in joy as a shower of confetti fell from on high. Grinning happily, he was then handed the champion cup. Zaki finished as runner-up in last year’s Scripps Bee. “Eclaircissement” is a French word meaning “the clearing up of something obscure.”
Bushman, in the seventh round of the semifinals, was unfortunately tripped up by the word “oxter,” which she spelled as “ochster.” Still, Bushman managed to achieve a tie for 41st place in the prestigious Bee, which is now in its 100th year.
“Oxter” is a word meaning “armpit” in some areas of the world (Scotland, Northern England, Ireland).
In the first round, Bushman correctly spelled “chevre,” the French name for “goat” and also the name of the French cheese made from goat’s milk. In that round, Bushman also gave the correct definition of the word “grandiloquent,” which means pompous or extravagant in language, style or manner, especially in a way intended to impress.”
She correctly spelled her way through six rounds and then moved into the semifinals after she spelled “alabaster” when she was one of 57 students remaining in the competition of the total of 243 contestants.
Nine Minnesota regional spelling bee winners competed at the Scripps Bee in late May. The 243 students, ages 8-14, came from all 50 states. Thirteen of the competitors were from the Bahamas, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Guam, Kuwait, Nigeria, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Five of the nine Minnesota students, including Bushman, spelled their way past the preliminary rounds and made it to the quarter and semi-final rounds. The other four students were from Duluth, East Grand Forks, Marshall and Minneapolis.
An eighth-grader at St. John’s Prep School in Collegeville, Bushman is the daughter of Catherine and Brandon Bushman of St. Cloud.
Two years ago, when she was a sixth-grader, she won the St. John’s Prep Spelling Bee and proceeded to compete in that year’s regional Bee. Earlier this year she won the St. John’s Prep Bee again and then went on to become the first-place spelling champ of the Central Minnesota Regional Spelling Bee by correctly spelling the word “honorarium.” That is a word meaning “a payment given in recognition of a special service or achievement.”
Bushman placed tops among the 40 students who competed in that regional Bee held earlier this year.
Bushman earned high praise from her teachers. One of them is Jeff Kirchoff, St. John’s Prep middle-school language-arts teacher. He posted the following comment on the SJP website:
“Emmaline’s preparation for every activity she pursues – whether the spelling bee, Knowledge Bowl or a class assignment – is second to none. More importantly, though, she remains a genuinely humble individual who is always quick to thank people for their time and energy.”
Carlee Biechler, Bushman’s former language-arts teacher, had this to say before Bushman went to the Scripps National Spelling Bee:
“Emmaline showed her hard work and dedication during the regional spelling bee. We are so proud of her and cannot wait to watch her represent St. John’s Prep at the National Spelling Bee. Congratulations and good luck, Emmaline!”
Bushman is a passionate violist, a member of her school’s Knowledge Bowl team and an avid reader (her favorite novel is Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”). She loves all areas of knowledge and collects trivia facts as well as interesting words. When she’s not practicing viola or reading, she also loves to bake sweet treats and work on her journal.
Scripps bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee was founded in 1925 as a consolidation of numerous local spelling bees organized by “The Courier-Journal” newspaper in Louisville, Ken. Its first winner was a Kentucky student, Frank Neuhauser, who spelled correctly the word “gladiolus” (a type of flower) to become the champ.
The mission of the event is not just to encourage children to spell correctly but also to enlarge their vocabularies and to widen their knowledge of the English language.
The grand prizes for the national champion are $50,000, a cup trophy, a $2,500 savings bond, a reference library from Merriam-Webster, $400 in reference works and a lifetime membership to Britannica Encyclopedia Online.
Emmaline Bushman holds the champion trophy she earned at the Central Minnesota Regional Spelling Bee, a victory that propelled her to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in late May where she tied for 41st place among 443 contestants.
