JACKSON TWP. ‒ Tommy Schervish took an in-depth approach to prepare for this year’s Canton Repository Regional Final Spelling Bee after finishing in second place last year.
“I feel like I learned how … words in every situation kind of worked,” he said. “Last year, I just tried to memorize the whole list. It’s too many words to memorize, so you just kind of have to learn the spelling rules. But some words, they don’t follow the rules. So, yeah, it’s tough.”
His approach paid off, as Tommy claimed first place at the competition, held March 7 at the Kent State University at Stark campus. Along with a trophy, he gets a trip to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee held May 25-29 in Washington, D.C.
The list for the national bee has 472,000 words.
A total of 37 students from Stark, Tuscarawas, Carroll and Holmes counties started the Repository’s 80th Regional Final Spelling Bee. All the spellers had won their school’s spelling bee to earn a spot in the regional final.
Tommy, a student at St. Michael School in Plain Township, correctly spelled eight words to claim the championship: avatar, extinguish, continuous, existential, nitrate, dissemble, durango, and cybernetics — the comparative study of the automatic control system formed by the nervous system and brain and by mechanical-electric communications systems and devices.
Durango, a word describing a moderate brown color, was the word that took Tommy to the brink of the win, as he correctly spelled the word to emerge as the lone finisher in the seventh round. He had to spell cybernetics correctly to clinch the victory. Had he failed to spell it correctly, the other contestants from the seventh round would have returned to the competition.
Spell-off determines second and third place at Repository Bee
The real nail-biter in the bee occurred during the seventh round spell-off to determine the second- and third-place finishers from among the three competitors: Savannah Stein of Canton Country Day School in Plain Township, Remmi Cunningham of Carrollton Middle High School, and Jelin Zheng of Millersburg Elementary School.
Jelin was the first to fall, misspelling campanology, the noun for the art of bell ringing. Savannah and Remmi correctly spelled porcelain and afghan, respectively.
Savannah and Remmi competed until Savannah correctly spelled hallucinate and Remmi misspelled sclerosis. Savannah then correctly spelled diatonic to clinch second place and leave Remmi in third.
‘He’s such a hard worker and he totally deserved this today.’
Following the competition, Tommy said he was excited to be heading to Washington. The trip will occur around the time of his May 21 birthday.
“I am just so proud of Tommy,” said his mother, Sarah Schervish. “He’s such a hard worker and he totally deserved this today.”
“I just love how goal-oriented he is, and he really had his sights on D.C., and executed, and approaches his schoolwork that way,” said his father, Tom Schervish.
His 16-year-old sister Anna Schervish commended Tommy’s work ethic and confidence in the competition.
“I was in spelling bees, but I was never as good as Tommy,” she said. “I went up there and I got too nervous.”
Savannah’s second-place finish came in the second year she qualified for the regional bee. She said she expected to be among the top three finishers.
“But I wasn’t going to be upset if I didn’t, because … I thought about everyone — each person has their own qualities,” she said. “I still thought about myself and how my studies have been going, and I thought about how hard I practiced, and how hard I tried, and just my goals in life and their value.”
The daughter of April and Loel Stein Jr. said she also thought about Olympic figure skater Alysa Liu.
“She was a huge inspiration. I really connect with her when she says that … it didn’t matter if you won because … it doesn’t determine your worth, and … just getting there is such an accomplishment,” she said. “I took it seriously, but I didn’t take it too seriously to the point where I was nervous and that really helped.”
Prizes also include a one-year subscription to Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online; a one-year subscription to Britannica Online Premium; a United States Mint proof set; and a one-year subscription to News-O-Matic for the speller’s school.
Reach Nancy at 330-580-8382 or nancy.molnar@cantonrep.com.On X, formerly known as Twitter: @nmolnarTR.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Tommy Schervish wins regional spelling bee, heads to nationals
Reporting by Nancy Molnar, Canton Repository / The Repository
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