The word was “tenrec,” and 11-year-old Canadian Isaac Brogan knew immediately there could be trouble.
The definition — any of the numerous small, often insectivorous mammals of Madagascar — didn’t provide him much help.
“Well, prepare the bell,” said the Windsor, Ont., resident, sparking laughter from the hundreds in the audience watching the semifinals of the 95th Scripps National Spelling Bee, held in National Harbor, Md., just outside Washington, D.C.
The bell, as everyone at the competition knows, is the signal indicating that one of the young spellers has misspelled their word.
“I’m going to try this out but I’m probably going to fail,” said Issac, displaying some of that honest self-commentary he had employed during the competition.
He began to spell it, stumbled, and asked if he could start again. Then he proceeded:
“Tenrec, T-E-N-R-E-C-K, tenrec?” he said, with a questioning tone.
Unfortunately for the Grade 5 student at Maranatha Christian Academy, his prediction came true, the bell rang, and a clearly disappointed Brogran was out of the competition.
Only Canadian to make it to semifinals
Brogan, who had won the WFCU Credit Union Scripps Regional Spelling Bee earlier this spring, was the only Canadian to make it to the semifinals of the annual spelling competition this year, one of three Canadians to compete.
There were 229 competitors this year, and Isaac was one of 56 to make it to the semifinals of the competition, first established in 1925. Participants ranged in age from nine to 14, with most from the U.S., but others coming from countries including Canada, Guam, Ghana, Germany, and the Bahamas.
The finals take place Thursday night with the winner being awarded $50,000 US cash, a commemorative medal and The Scripps Cup, the official championship trophy of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
“You have represented your country Canada so well and at 11 you have more chances to face the dictionary on this Bee stage,” said head judge Mary Brooks following Isaac’s loss.
WATCH | Isaac heads to the spelling bee:
Isaac Brogan is off to Washington, D.C. for the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee after winning the Windsor-Essex, Ont. regional spelling bee.
He’d often employ a technique used by many of the young competitors, using their finger to spell out the word on their hand or their contestant placard before attempting to answer.
In his first round, while admitting to the officials he was nervous, Isaac seemed to have little difficulty with the word “tamarack.” The second round, where the competitors are asked to define a word out of three potential meanings, he correctly identified the definition of the word “bumptious.”
The third round he aced “vendition” and in the quarterfinals correctly spelled “Barbuda” but not before, cheekily, asking for some help.
“Could you please tell me what letters are in this word,” he asked Dr. Jacques Bailey, the official pronouncer of competition.
“You really don’t want me to have to do that,” Bailey said.
‘Happy I could do well for my country’
By the fourth round, the words had increased in difficulty with participants asked to spell such words as apophyllite, congelifraction, Perioeci and forficiform, and for Isaac, tenrec.
Afterward, although overcome with emotion by the disappointment of not making it to the finals, Isaac said he had enjoyed his experience at the competition.
“I felt bad for the other Canadians that didn’t make it to the quarterfinals,” he said. “I’m happy I could do well for my country and make it to the semifinals.”
To prepare for the competition, he used a program called SpellPundit, and an app made by Scripps called Word Club, while studying about an hour a day.
His mother, Paulette Brogan, said that Scripps gives the participants a “champions words list” to study from for the first rounds, but for the later rounds, the words can be any words from the dictionary.
“I’m feeling sad for him because he’s feeling sad and disappointed,” she said. “But I just have to teach him that we came here and we gathered some information, gathered some resources, and we know how to prepare for a Scripps Spelling Bee.”
Both Isaac and his mom said they hoped to return next year.
“We’re just going to really go through the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Now we have a year to practice,” Paulette Brogan said. “We’re going to go through it all. And I think we’re just really going to focus on that every day a little bit.”