Standing on the microphone on the Scripps Nationwide Spelling Bee might
be nerve-wracking for college kids, however for fogeys watching their kids
on stage after months of preparation it’s “emotionally gut-wrenching.”

That’s how Frank Opoku-Appoh described the expertise of watching his
daughter, Karen Baaba Opoku-Appoh, one in all three Arizona spellers
competing on this yr’s nationwide bee, as she took her activate stage during the last two days.

“You don’t know what phrase you’re going to get, you recognize you’ve accomplished
all of the preparation, you recognize you’ve accomplished every thing however when she goes
as much as the microphone it’s actually, actually gut-wrenching,” he stated
Wednesday.

However Karen’s flip, and her father’s anxiousness, ended Wednesday morning
when she incorrectly spelled the phrase “ordonnance” – that means association
– as “ordinance” within the quarterfinal spherical.

The one different Arizona speller nonetheless within the bee on Wednesday, Opal
Mishra, was eradicated within the semifinals Wednesday afternoon when she
misspelled “feuillage” – one other phrase for foliage, which she spelled
as an alternative.

Head decide Mary Brooks praised Opal,12, a Basha Accelerated Center
College sixth grader, for her efficiency all through the competitors.

“Opal, you’ve accomplished an impressive job and we all know you instructed us you
wished to go to Paris and I feel someplace I learn that you just’d additionally like
to go to Harvard College and we predict after this week’s efficiency
we all know there is no such thing as a dream that’s going to be too massive for you, so
congratulations,” Brooks stated.

It was the tip of two days of competitors that started with 229
spellers from each state and a handful of international nations. In
addition to Karen and Opal, Arizona was represented by Tazbah Spruhan, an eighth grader from Tséhootsooí Center College in Window Rock.

Tazbah, 14, was eradicated Tuesday when she misspelled “Groenendael,”
a Belgian sheepdog. She was one in all 108 spellers eradicated on the primary
day, leaving 121 to begin the day Wednesday.

Karen, 13, secured her place within the quarterfinals by accurately
defining the phrase “Immolate” – that means to sacrifice oneself within the
curiosity of some purpose or trigger – on Tuesday afternoon. Her father stated
he was shocked when she accurately outlined the phrase.

“Severely, yesterday I feel my coronary heart, like, popped as a result of the
vocabulary, the phrases they gave her, we by no means did something and we by no means
discovered that phrase,” Opoku-Appoh stated. “Oh my God, she took her time
studying and guessed it accurately, I practically fell off my seat.”

Whereas her luck ran out Wednesday with “ordonnance,” Opal was capable of advance to the semifinals by spelling accurately spelling “pointillistic” within the quarterfinals. However she was not capable of get previous the sixth spherical.

Opal, 12, stated that she competed in her first spelling bee simply this
yr. She stated she was nervous earlier than her first competitors, however has
since discovered methods to make taking the stage somewhat simpler.

“Once I get nervous I simply attempt to ignore all of the individuals and simply
give attention to the phrase and the decide and my mother and father I feel,” she stated.

From that first win in her class spelling bee in Chandler earlier
this yr, she went on to the district, the regional and, lastly, the
Arizona state spelling bee the place she completed second behind Karen,
securing her spot on the nationwide bee.

Karen stated she had been finding out as much as three hours daily since
December in preparation. Now that her spelling bee days are behind her –
eighth grade is the cutoff – Karen stated she hopes to give attention to lecturers
to pursue her dream of being a health care provider, however not earlier than taking a
well-deserved break.

Whereas leaving the competitors was a bittersweet expertise for Karen,
the Marana Center Schooler stated she is worked up to have extra free time
and the possibility to go to all of the monuments and museums Washington has to
provide earlier than she heads residence to Arizona this weekend.

“It felt sort of nerve-wracking, I clearly didn’t get it proper, however
I’m glad now trigger I’m sort of relieved that I don’t should go to the
subsequent spherical,” she stated of the finals scheduled for Thursday night time. “Even
although it’s sort of a bummer, it’s a aid that I don’t have to check
or do something.”