Teams test their spelling mettle at the Library's Adult Spelling Bee
Published on March 21, 2022
What starts with “chihuahua” and ends with “kwashiorkor?” The Fort Worth Public Library’s 2022 Adult Spelling Bee, of course!
About a dozen teams participated on March 20 at the Southwest Regional Library, each team comprising two to five spellers ages 16 and older. The first two rounds were collaborative, using written guesses on white boards, including a 60-second push to spell five words correctly. Then remaining teams chose their best spellers to compete head-to-head by spelling their unique words individually aloud. The final rounds were again collaborative, but the later words were at times more obscure.
Three teams made it to the final round based on their cumulative scores based on correctly spelled words. Determining which team was first and second – both advancing to the regional round set for May – came down to the word kwashiorkor. That word is defined as a form of malnutrition caused by protein deficiency in the diet most often experienced by children in the tropics.
The members of Team 2 (top photo) correctly spelled kwashiorkor, edging out Team 7. While the team members worked effectively together, they were perfect strangers before the bee started.
“Team 2 does not know each other,” said Pamela Skjolsvik, librarian at the Southwest Regional Library and the bee’s moderator. “They were all single people who signed up to be in this bee, and I randomly put them together.”
Team 2’s first-place team features Tina Frausto, Elaine Taylor and Tom Weisiger.
Frausto learned about the bee by seeing it mentioned in the newspaper. At work, she’s considered a resource for stellar spelling.
“I work with nothing but guys, and they’re always doing puzzles,” she said. “They always ask me, ‘Tina, how do you spell (a certain word)?’ ”
Taylor said she has participated in spelling bees before. She saw a similar event was being staged at the Benbrook Public Library, and found the Fort Worth Public Library’s version closer to home. She served as her team's captain.
Weisiger is also no stranger to spelling bees, including at the Fort Worth Public Library.
"I did the first one about two years ago and was on the winning team," he said. "I think I was in junior high and won the spelling bee all three years. Spelling has always been my thing."
He said he has confidence his team will do well at the regional bee, depending on the words that come up. Even a master speller can use a little help every once in awhile.
"I thought the word 'aficionado' had two f's,"Weisiger said. "And the captain said, 'No, it doesn't." The captain was right.
Team 7’s second-place finishers Eric LaPointe and Michelle Currie (bottom photo) are teachers in the Upper School at All Saints Episcopal School in Fort Worth. The two colleagues had already been talking about conducting a spelling bee for their students. Currie said she saw the sign at Southwest Regional about the Adult Spelling Bee and thought it might be fun.
“I was easily recruited,” LaPointe said. Their studies of classic languages including Latin and Greek (as well as French) might have given them an edge when spelling words originating in those languages, he said, and the experience might help bring the school spelling bee closer to reality.
The Fort Worth Public Library offers a variety of programs for people of all ages and interests as a destination for discovery and a place to build community. Learn about more of the Library’s adult programming at FortWorthLibrary.org.