10-year-old super speller makes gallant effort in Regional Spelling Bee

COLUMBIA — Kael Miranda went into the Regional Spelling Bee on Tuesday night as the kid to beat.

Last year, when he was only 9, he placed second to Faaris Khan, 13, an eighth-grader from Gentry Middle School. Kael was in fourth grade.

"I think I have a chance this time," he said two days before the bee, which is sponsored by the Columbia Daily Tribune.

"Last year I had to see what it was like," he said. "This time I have to win."

More than two hours into the spelling bee on Tuesday, Kael went out in Round 9.

He faltered on "coloratura," a word that usually applies to a soprano who can sing difficult, ornamental music.

Last year, he stumbled on "bobbejaan," which means baboon in the Afrikaans language.

This year's winner, Junah Jang, 12, from Gentry Middle School, beat 59 other regional competitors and will be eligible for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May in Washington, D.C. She won on the word "reputable."

Surprised teachers

Still, Kael has demonstrated that he can spell words that even stump his teachers.

"He's very quiet. So, I totally was blown away last year at the spelling bee for our school. He could spell these amazing words," said Barb Grindstaff, his fourth- and fifth-grade teacher at Alpha Hart Lewis Elementary School.

Kael won the school bee last year, and the principal, Tim Majerus, said he was impressed by the boy's ability, especially in the regional competition.

"The contest lasted more than 30 rounds, and he finished in second place to an eighth-grader, which is the highest any student from my school has finished," Majerus said.

Grindstaff said when Kael misspelled his word, it appeared difficult for him to process. He told her he had been confused by the pronunciation, which he practiced the way his mother repeated it.

"He had never not won, and so he didn't know what to do," Grindstaff said. "He just stood there silently for, like, 15 minutes. It was painful."

She said Kael is at the top level of spelling ability for his age group.  He understands word origins and roots, and he can also see patterns among words.

"We call him our walking dictionary, because if I'm busy in the middle of teaching somebody and somebody goes, 'How do you spell vernacular?' I'll say, 'Talk to our walking dictionary,'" Grindstaff explained.

The boy also relies on an incredible memory, she said.

"I first look at the words, spell them, look at the definition, and then it's in my head now," he said in an interview last week.

Grindstaff said he's quite methodical. After a word is spelled, she said, "it kind of goes into a vault."

"It's almost like a math equation to him. Where we see 2+2=4, he sees the word 'egregious' and he says, 'This is how to make that sound.'"

"This is like his Olympics."

Methodical speller

Majerus said he frequently challenges Kael by picking words he might not know.

"I was quizzing him last week, and he not only knew every word that I asked him from a very difficult list, but he was also telling me the definition of the words," Majerus said. "It was very impressive."

Because of his spelling skills, Kael has a vocabulary that is more sophisticated than typical fifth-grade level, Grindstaff said.

"The words he chooses in just his everyday common language are more something you'd read in the New Yorker, as opposed to most kids," she said, "which is more something you'd read in People Magazine."

He said his favorite word to spell is "rendezvous" because it's "hard and complex."

Kael's interests also run to science, specifically astronomy. He said he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up.

"The facts I know about (planets) are fascinating," he said. "Even though Venus is the second planet, it’s still scorching hot."

His father described him as a studious kid who gets deeply into subjects that fascinate him.

"Even when he was really young, we didn't have a strict regime, so to speak, for academics. We kind of let him do what he liked to do, and that's something he just does naturally," Dominic Miranda said.

"If he gets interested in something, he always gets pretty deep into it, whether it's games or whatever," he said. "That's been the way it's been with spelling as well."

Spelling well is a combination of skill and practice, Grindstaff said.

"If you're predisposed to being a good speller, then typically spelling's pretty easy," she said. "You can learn strategies and rules, but if you're not predisposed, then typically you'll just do your best to get by."

Grindstaff said spellcheck has caused students to be lax about learning to spell.

"That's kind of sad because then I think we lose the ability to communicate language appropriately, adequately," she said.

"That's why someone like Kael seems like such an anomaly."