Elenor Key, Lindsey Roberts and librarian Alison Criner.
Avifauna, iatrogenic, kookaburra — intimidating words such as these did not stump Lindsey Roberts, the eighth-grader at Oak Cliff’s W.E. Greiner Exploratory Arts Academy, selected to represent her school at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Scripps — in case you did not know — is the big leagues, the subject of not less than two documentaries (Spelling the Dream 2020, Spellbound 2002).
Note: This item is a summary of the article written by Javier Giribet-Vargas for Dallas ISD’s blog, The Hub.
Lindsey will be the only contestant representing Dallas ISD in the nationwide spelling championship after bringing in one of the top scores at the 64th Annual Dallas Regional Spelling Bee. The Dallas Sports Commission, a local nonprofit, partnered with Scripps in 2017 to sponsor the Annual Dallas Regional Spelling Bee program. To qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, contestants must win a local bee.
“She’s bright and really good at writing, and really shines with her work and performance in my class,” language arts teacher Jesus Rodriguez says. “She’s very communicative and vocal and a very active reader, and even helps me spell words sometimes. … it’s really no surprise to me that she’s able to come this far.”
Acting, video games, theater tech and hard rock are among Lindsey’s main interests, but none surpass her love for reading, she tells The Hub.
“I feel like I’m naturally good at spelling because I read a lot,” Lindsey says. “I’ve been studying the list of words that Scripps provided. I find the words in dictionaries to learn about those that I’m not familiar with and to get a better grasp on spelling. I’ve been learning about the roots of words and about the different languages where they originate to find common spelling patterns.”
Eleanor Key, Lindsey’s mom, says Lindsey memorized books at age 4, amazed her preschool teachers and was reading novels at 7.
“It was challenging for me to find her books that were age-appropriate and matched the level that she was prepared to read,” Key says. “She’s always had this really big passion for reading, and I know that it has everything to do with the vocabulary that she uses. I am immensely proud of what she’s accomplished.”
(According to a judge quoted in the Spelling documentary, winners typically master 60,000 to 100,000 words.)
The E.W. Scripps Company has managed the National Spelling Bee since 1925 with the purpose of helping students learn concepts, increase their vocabulary and develop correct English usage.
The 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee takes place the week of Memorial Day 2022 in National Harbor, Maryland. Visit spellingbee.com beginning May 1, 2022, for a full competition schedule.
