Spelling is g-o-o-d

Sean Hubbard - NewsPress

March 28, 2008 10:45 am

— E-X-E-C-R-A-T-I-O-N spells victory.
Hannah Cassidy, 14-year-old from Perkins, recently won the Tulsa World Eastern Oklahoma Spelling Bee by outspelling 56 other competitors. Her victory will send her to Washington, D.C., for the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee May 26 through June 1.
The road to the state level competition was not an easy one for Cassidy, as she had other competitions to win before advancing to the next level. Because Hannah and her six brothers and sisters are homeschooled, she competed in the homeschool competition, which she won.
Then, she moved onto a three-county regional competition, which she won. From the regional spelling bee, seven qualifiers moved onto the state spelling bee, which she won. Now, it’s on to the national stage, which the semifinals are televised on ESPN and the finals on ABC.
“I’m very excited,” Cassidy said about the chance to spell against some of the best in not only the country, but the world. “I really enjoy doing it.”
However, if Hannah is looking for some competition, she needs to look no further than her own house. Her brother, Caleb also advanced to the national spelling bee in 2003. Bobbi Jo Cassidy, mother, credits much of the family’s spelling success to the diligence of her kids to want to study and learn.
“I don’t think we were born with it,” Bobbi Jo said. “We have a desire to teach our children to be excellent communicators. And spelling is a part of that.”
Bobbi Jo and her husband, D.J., have been homeschooling their children for 20 years and competing in spelling bees for 18. The idea to homeschool came when their first-born was diagnosed with Down syndrome in California. When the time came, at age 3, for their son to be gone seven to eight hours a day, the Cassidys thought better of that.
“We were Christians and we wanted God’s best for our children,” Bobbi Jo said. “Children can actually learn a lot from being in their home with parents that love them and are dedicated to education.”
It has paid off for them so far, as they now plan for yet another national spelling bee. Studying for Hannah consists of learning Greek and Latin routes, as the approximate 500,000 words in Webster’s Third dictionary is the pool from which the words are picked.
“There is no way to study that whole dictionary,” Bobbi Jo said.
There are nearly 290 competitors from the United States and other countries in the national spelling bee. Just having the opportunity to compete is enough for the Cassidy family.
“We are hoping we will be a good job representing Stillwater and Oklahoma,” said Bobbi Jo.

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