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May is usually the time when students get ready to take their SATs
in preparation for college. There are two parts to the exam, verbal
and math. With the verbal, the knowledge of words and definitions
is very important. For some, memories come flooding back to when they
were in the 4th or 5th grade and vying to ace the spelling bee quiz
teachers usually gave out. It was a time when as a youngster, they
wanted to be the best speller in the class. If one could go back in
time and think about those days, fond memories would be recalled as
they will remember the words that didn’t put them at the top. This
is a situation that continues to go on everywhere in the United States,
but the path to greatness is usually not explored, until now. Nominated last year
for an Academy Award for best documentary is Jeffrey Blitz’s inspirational
film Spellbound, which shares the stories of 8 kids who, through
hard work and support from their parents, competed in the National
Spelling Bee.
Director Blitz and his producer Sean Welch spent quite a deal of
time searching for kids who had previously competed in the National
Spelling Bee. In the hopes that these kids would return to the nationals
proved fruitful as the film follows 8 kids from different cities
and different racial and economic backgrounds. One of the kids,
Ashley, is the oldest daughter of a single mom in the D.C projects.
With prayers to her Lord as her guide, Ashley hopes to win at the National
Spelling Bee to give her life focus. Emily, who comes from New Haven,
CT, seems to be a regular at the nationals, having lost twice. She
hopes this will be the year her luck pans out. Angela, the daughter
of Mexican immigrants, has an amazing story. Currently living in
Texas, her parents don’t speak English so Angela has had to learn
on her own, and excel in spelling without the benefit of owning
a computer or being helped by teachers after school like the other
students. The National Spelling Bee has been covered on television
recently on ESPN to gain widespread attention and for this 8 kids
the opportunity to be the best in the country could be a dream come
true.
The amazing thing about this documentary is the stories behind
the kids. To follow these kids and see their grueling path at studying
SAT words at an early age is challenging yet uplifting. Everyone
has a dream at being the best in something. For some, it’s in a sport,
and for others, it’s intelligence. The journey to the dream is uplifting
and rewarding for everyone wins. In Spellbound, there are
no losers for these kids are the future of tomorrow.
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