The 8th Barstow Spelling Bee was a huge success, involving people from all over the middle school. 

The Barstow Spelling Bee has made a comeback after not being around for two years. John McKinney (‘28), the winner of the competition, stated that he was surprised but also proud of himself for accomplishing such a momentous goal. 

When students win the spelling bee, they get to advance to the city level competition. To prepare, John (‘28) said, “Mrs. Tillema gave me a word list, so I am going to study that.”

The day of the spelling bee started with participants staying at Barstow after school. They sat down in the middle school commons, ready for the competition. Mrs. Tillema, the 6th grade English teacher, said, “I had 30 words, and 25 of those words were from the online spelling bee test from Scripp’s. And for pronunciation, they had it where all I had to do was press a button, and most of the words were said by Dr. Bailey, who is on the National Program for the finals…I gave the part of speech, definition, and used it in a sentence. In the end, after we had gone through all the words, I asked if anybody wanted to know the origin.” Also, the five remaining words were from an old spelling test from 2019-2020.

The Barstow Spelling Bee has many benefits for participants. Participants build confidence and a love for language and words. The bee also helps students build hard-working skills since it takes lots of dedication to do well. It teaches kids to persevere and put their best effort into this competition. 

As well as the winner of the competition, John McKinney (‘28), there was also a 2nd place winner. Ali Akbar Khumri (‘28) won this slot. John McKinney (‘28) said that he studied for the spelling bee by reading books and memorizing how some of the words were spelled. As a result, John (‘28) won the spelling bee with the word “malodorous” which means having a bad odor or highly improper, according to Merriam-Webster. 

This was his first-ever spelling bee, yet he pulled out on top. He said, “I was kind of nervous, but I also felt like I would do pretty good,” and that he encourages this mindset onto future participants. 

Another piece of advice that John (‘28) gave was that everyone should try it because it might be easier than you think. He said the hardest part was spelling “clerisy,” but in the end, no one got the word right. The easiest parts were the simpler words, including: absurd, puddle, and choose. 

He added that people were quiet and it was easy to focus, which lines up with what Mrs. Tillema said. “Personally, I liked it much better. It was lower key. Before, everyone would be standing on stage, spelling their words in front of all their peers. It was very nerve-wracking for them,” she stated.

Instead, this year, there was no public speaking. It was writing, which works on comprehension skills as well. 

The spelling bee has been going on for years and will continue for many more years to come. It is a great way to learn new vocabulary and build confidence in yourself as you try again and again to master a word until you succeed.