It’s a language story, in which that cultural sponge known as the English language plays a starring role. The top spellers are obsessive etymologists. They are language detectives, exploring lingual patterns, digging into Latin and Greek and French, looking for clues to help them decipher obscure polysyllabics. Spelling, at this level, is about far more than recitation. It’s about understanding how the language is built, and how the history of English created this eccentric patchwork called modern spelling. It’s about all the skills that further literacy: voracious reading, a sprawling vocabulary, even knowledge of grammar. The Bee is like a yearly Woodstock for the language arts crowd.
First and foremost—and here we get to the heart of the Bee—it’s a story about kids, about how the Bee’s challenges transform them. Or, more accurately, how the kids transform themselves. For these top spellers, the Bee is an odyssey that includes the smaller bees they must win, countless hours of study and drill, and a semi-Olympian process of psych-up. The nerves can be fearsome. Finally, they step to the microphone in front of a mass audience (including parents and television cameras) to face an unknown challenge. They’re out there all alone, forced to rely upon only their own resources. These moments are like a little pressure cooker. This is necessarily a growth experience, whether or not they spell correctly. And that, really, is what the Bee is all about: young people growing, within the context of a high-profile educational environment. That’s a beautiful thing.
As icing on the cake, it’s the story of a big party, a yearly gathering of like-minded souls—young souls—that, in between competing with each other, share a subculture with its own idiosyncrasies and status symbols. They are word nerds. They study Latin and play video games. They have fantasies of spelling the perfect eight-syllable word. Many of them stop reading only long enough to drill lunar-like morphemes, carrying their laptops outside to play, lugging their dictionary on family vacations. They are a strange bunch, which makes them an interesting bunch.
In short, the Bee is an invaluable nugget of American life. Despite the odd niche it occupies, it says a lot about who we are, our oddness, our strengths. And, after enduring for hundreds of years, it’s a folk tradition that can safely claim to be a permanent part of the American scene. The Bee is a story that deserves to be told.
One more thing, on a personal note. As I got to know the spellers and their families I profiled in this book, I had a wonderful time. Having dinner with the families, talking with the spellers, learning about their hopes and their worries, being at the Bee in Washington—it was a rich experience. I consider myself lucky for having been able to report this story.
If you enjoy reading this book even a fraction as much as I enjoyed writing it, I’ll feel as if I’ve just spelledrijsttafel in the final rounds of the National Bee. In other words, pretty darn good.
And now, let the spelling begin…