Justin was in the fourth-grade spelling bee today. It took place at the high school auditorium. There had already been preliminary rounds and only six representatives from each of the four fourth-grade classes made it to the competition today.

Justin (center) after winning as everyone collected their balloons and offered congratulations to Justin.

When it started, I wasn’t nervous, but I knew Justin was nervous. He wasn’t the only one. The very first kid who stepped up to the podium was asked to spell “ache,” and rushed his answer, added a k, and had to sit down.

At that point, I started getting nervous. I knew that Justin was a good at spelling, and I knew that he could spell almost every word on the second page including words like characterize and efficiency.

But every time a kid sat down because they heard the word wrong and as a result spelled the wrong word, my anxiety grew.

One boy, not Justin, was given the word “rare.” In the audience, I immediately wondered if it was “rear” or “rare.” I held my breath when the boy just started spelling without asking for the word to be used in a sentence. He was right, but I felt like I was going to start sweating soon, and it wasn’t even my kid!

I knew Justin would be very disappointed if he screwed up. Plus, the kids were good at spelling. I was impressed. Soon it was down to two boys and about six girls.

The competition began with four-letter words. It continued with five-letter words and then six-letter words. The list of possible words went all the way up to 12-letter words.

By the seventh round, there were just enough students to fill the front row — about 8 kids. There were at least two rounds without any eliminations and then a girl was out and then the other boy.

After 11 rounds, it was down to Justin and one other girl, Alexis. Both were awesome spellers. It looked like the spelling bee was going to last forever because the two of them weren’t making any mistakes.

It went 16 or 17 rounds with just the two of them. I was getting more and more nervous.

Justin wasn’t helping. More than once during his turn, he would ask the person to repeat the word. One time the word was “chatter,” and Justin asked it to be repeated. He still didn’t know for sure, so he asked if it meant when people talk a lot. The meaning of the word isn’t something that is provided, so the person saying the words used it in a sentence.

I think Justin was just showing off. He spelled the word “chatter” without any problems.

Alexis was up, and the word was “promote.” I wasn’t close to the stage. She didn’t clarify the word, and she started spelling it.

One of the spelling rules is that once you start spelling the word, you can restart, but you can’t change any letters.

Alexis (according to Justin) spelled “remote.”

It was just what I was dreading! They were both doing so well, and when it came down to it, it was a misheard word.

When it was just the two of them, they were in an elimination round. In order to win, Justin had to correctly spell the word “promote” AND spell the next word to take the win.

He spelled promote. The principal later complimented me on how well Justin pronounced his letters when he spelled them. He always made sure to pronounce them very clearly and loudly into the microphone. His teacher, Mrs. Harrison, really gave her students a lot of great tips for the competition (including to make sure you were spelling the word you needed to spell).

And then the heat was on — Justin needed to spell the next word right to take the win. If he was wrong, both kids would still be in it and the spelling bee would continue.

Justin, the Spelling Bee Champion!

The word was “peasant.” Very clearly and slowly, Justin said, “peasant – p-e-a-s-a-n-t- peasant.” The kids started whooping and yelling and so did I along with Justin’s grandma and great-grandma.

Justin had the biggest smile on his face.

His name will go on a plaque that hangs in the middle-school. He will also get his picture in the paper, and he received a my

lar balloon that said, “Congratulations! You did it.” (Which, by the way, he already lost when it came off his wrist and blew away.)

In celebration, I bought him a banana split.