After clinching first place at the CESA 10 Regional Spelling Bee in Chippewa Falls on February 3rd, Stanley-Boyd eighth grader Aiden Kaiser is heading to Madison. Kaiser will represent the Stanley-Boyd Area School District at the State Spelling Bee, held at the Mitby Theater in Madison on March 29th, where he will face off against the state’s best spellers. Kaiser’s regional victory came when he correctly spelled the word “taxonomic,” securing his spot at the state competition.
“I spelled the word ‘taxonomic’ right to win,” Kaiser shared, reflecting on the final moment of the competition.
Preparing for the regional spelling bee wasn’t easy, as Kaiser quickly realized the vast number of words to study. Rather than memorizing the spelling of each individual word, he chose to concentrate on common prefixes and suffixes.
“Instead of focusing on how words were spelled, I learned common prefixes and suffixes to the words I didn’t know. This helped me learn to carefully listen to the pronunciation of each word, it really made a difference,” he explained.
Kaiser acknowledged that the complexity of the regional words pushed him to modify his approach. “I have always been a good speller, but these words took it to a new level, so I had to adapt,” he said.
Looking ahead to the State competition, Kaiser plans to employ the same method used by last year’s Stanley-Boyd State Spelling Bee qualifier. “To prepare for the State Spelling Bee I plan to use a strategy that former state qualifier Mason Vait used in which you listen to the word and write it down then correct yourself. It is highly effective in the amount of words you can learn in a short period of time.” He added that he will also have others quiz him on the words.
Best of luck to Aiden as he continues his journey to the State Spelling Bee! Go Orioles!