Owen Kovalik, 12, is one cool – not to mention – intelligent and fun kid, who describes himself as a morning person. The Medina Christian Academy student fell in love with spelling since the 1st grade. His dedication paid off in a big way when he competed in the 88th Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 28 in Washington, DC.
So how does he practice? “I read over the words and try to memorize their spellings. Then, my mom will read down the list and quiz me orally like in a real spelling bee,” Owen explained.
We asked him how he knew where to even start looking for possible words he might have to spell.
“In most spelling bees they have given me a list. They did for the district and regional rounds, and the first two rounds of nationals.” But after that, any word is fair game.
“It’s based on Webster’s Third New International Dictionary…It’s the kind of dictionary you cannot memorize. It’s over 2,700 pages long and contains about 500,000 entries,” Owen said.
Owen qualified for the National Spelling Bee by first winning his classroom bee. “I have a very small school so there’s only one class for each grade. I only had to face one other person in a spelling duel,” Owen laughed.
Then, he placed in the top 6 in districts to move onto the regional round. He won regionals by correctly spelling the word vernation.
“It’s the arrangement of leaves around the bud,” Owen quickly added. “What surprised me was winning out of four counties sent me straight to the national bee.”
Competing at the national bee was “hard to take in at first,” Owen described. “You are in the top 300 spellers in the entire United States! Plus, it’s in a big, prestigious convention center and really nice hotel room.”
When it was time for Owen to take the stage, he said “I was nervous but I wasn’t panicking.”
Owen was in the top 49 spellers when the word xenodochium knocked him out of the game.
“I missed it by one letter.”
When Owen isn’t spelling for an hour each day leading up to the spelling bees, he is busy playing one of three instruments: violin, piano and clarinet.
Next school year, Owen will be a seventh grader and he “definitely” wants to compete in the 7th and 8th grade spelling bees, hopefully making it back to the national stage.
Owen’s mom and dad couldn’t be more proud of their son.
“He worked very hard and put in a lot of effort since the Bee began in the fall,” said dad Tony Kovalik. “We’re very happy he could bring home a semi-finalist ranking to the area.”
What we couldn’t see on the National Spelling Bee from TV was how supportive each contestant was to one another.
“Aside from the performance, what was really gratifying to me is that Owen got to meet a lot of really nice kids with similar interests — and it didn’t matter what size, shape or color you are. They are all really supportive of each other, giving high fives and comforting each other when they incorrectly spell a word,” Tony said.
As for Owen’s plans when he grows up? “I have a lot of options,” he exclaimed. “I’m thinking of becoming a concert pianist or violinist. I also would like to become a mathematician or scientist…and one day I want to compete on Jeopardy.”
Stay in touch, Owen! We absolutely loved meeting – and chatting with – you! Excited for your future spelling plans – and beyond!
