For the second year in a row, Nicasio David is the Lee County Spelling Bee champion. The Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School eighth grader correctly spelled mademoiselle to claim the title over 34 other contestants.
“It felt great. I was really happy to win,” Nicasio said. “I studied the ‘Words of the Champions’ list, Greek and Latin roots, and language patterns to prepare.”
A second win means a second trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee at the end of May near Washington DC for Nicasio. Suncoast Credit Union covers the cost of the trip as the grand prize for winning the Lee County Spelling Bee.
“I remember that last year when I was there was lots of things going on,” Nicasio said. “This year is going to be even better because it is their 100th anniversary. I think I will do better because I will have more time to study.”
This year’s national competition will be different. In Round 3, contestants will have a written test with 28 spelling words and 12 vocabulary questions. The best scores move on to Round 4. Round 4 is where Nicasio was eliminated last year, so he is already reviewing previous winners’ strategies for deciphering a word’s spelling to go farther this time.
“To be honest I got farther than I thought I would last year,” Nicasio said. “Now that there are more rounds, I’m going to really spend my time studying language patterns because you ask you can ask if you if there are Greek and Latin affixes and roots to the words.”
More than 200 spellers are expected at this year’s national bee. We wish Nicasio the best of luck.