<i> Substantial</i> Spelling Win : 11-Year-Old Has the Last Word at District Bee, and It’s Letter-Perfect

It was, suffice to say, a substantial victory.

Not that its worth was ever in doubt, but this was a win that was substantial because the victor correctly spelled the word substantial.

That champion was Sean Shakibai, 11, who bested 37 pupils from the Garden Grove Unified School District in Wednesday’s spelling bee at Stanford Elementary School.

He will represent the district Feb. 19 in the competition at the Kazuo Masuda Middle School in Fountain Valley to determine the best speller among fourth- to sixth-graders in Orange County.

The district contest, which started at 9 a.m., had already lasted an hour when the field was narrowed to two: Sean, from Mamie L. Northcutt Elementary, and another 11-year-old, Vy Pham of Mitchell Elementary.

Jan Reed, an instructional specialist for the district, asked them to spell indebtedness.

There was silence in the auditorium filled with about 100 pupils, educators and parents as the two scribbled their answers on mini-chalkboards, each isolated by a cardboard screen. These screens separated the 38 contestants, who sat at tables set up in a horseshoe around the audience.

When the finalists were done writing, the school official standing behind each of the two announced the verdict by raising their left hands.

Both had misspelled.

Amid mild laughter in the crowd, one educator was overheard saying, “They’ll know once they’re in the real world.”

Reed, from the stage, then read what turned out to be the final word in the spelling bee. Again, there was only silence and scribbling.

This time, only one spelled the word wrong.

As his school’s name was announced the winner, Sean pumped his fists into the air and stood up as the crowd clapped. This was the sixth-grader’s second year representing Northcutt and last year’s loss had left a bitter taste.

Sean knew he would have no more opportunities after this year’s contest to win the fourth- to sixth-grade competition for his elementary school.

“I saw it was my last chance and I just went for it,” Sean said in an interview after accepting his champion’s plaque.

But do not feel sorry for Vy just yet.

The sixth-grader, who stood with moist eyes and a downcast mouth as she listened to the contest’s outcome, and two other finalists from Wednesday’s bee will get to compete at the county level, where 25 districts will be represented.

“The county decides how many representatives from each district get to go, depending on each district’s enrollment,” said Joan Macon, a district program facilitator.

The two other finalists were also sixth-graders: Wei-Der Huang from Loyal H. Barker Elementary School and Minh Nguyen of Woodbury Elementary.

School officials said Wednesday’s contestants were tough competitors.