Emerson sixth-grader Tai Nakamura wins North Jersey Spelling Bee

PARAMUS ─ It took nine rounds and four hours for Tai Nakamura, a sixth-grader from Patrick M. Villano Elementary School in Emerson, to claim victory in the North Jersey Spelling Bee on Thursday.

The 81st North Jersey Spelling Bee at Bergen Community College on Thursday, March 15, 2018. Tai Nakamura, a sixth grade student at Patrick M Villano School in Emerson, on his way to winning the 81st North Jersey Spelling Bee.

He was in the last round by himself after besting the runner-up, Nupur Karnik of River Vale, in the eighth round with a successful spelling of Promethean, an adjective related to the Titan pioneer of civilization.

Nakamura cinched his victory with strabismus, a medical condition.

“I feel very happy,” Nakamura said after picking up his gleaming trophy.

The 12-year-old will go on to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. in May.

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He had just one thought after winning: “Is it really happening?”

The annual event, now in its 81st year, began with 100 spellers from Bergen and Passaic counties who won their local school bees.

One by one they stepped up to one of two microphones at Bergen Community College – one for the youngest and shortest and another for the older and taller – to put their spelling skills to a tougher test.

James Tedesco, the Bergen County Executive, offered the nervous group of elementary- and middle-schoolers a pep talk.

“This competition is more than just a showcase for your ability to memorize challenging words,” he said to a packed conference room.  “By preparing for this spelling bee, you have each shown your commitment to education. Your hard work has made you better readers and writers. Your participation here tonight is a testament to your poise and your ability to think on your feet.”

A judge urged the youngsters to speak slowly and take their time.

For some, including second-grader Sharvanya Moola of Teaneck and four third-graders, it was a North Jersey bee debut. For 30 eighth-graders, it was the last chance to win a coveted spot at the Super Bowl of spelling bees.

Each of the competitors was assigned a number, 1 to 102. Speller number five did not attend. The number 13 has long been banned from the bee over fears of bad luck, said Cynthia Forster, director of the Bergen County Division of Cultural and Historical Affairs.

The county presented the event alongside several sponsors, including The Record and NorthJersey.com.

The crowd looks on during the 81st North Jersey Spelling Bee at Bergen Community College on Thursday, March 15, 2018.

Pretzel, p-r-e-t-z-e-l, was the first word to disqualify a speller.

Misspellings of others quickly followed: belladonna, hassock, sultan, coyote, saxophone, mathematics, contraband, fiend, loam, curriculum, worrisome, biblical, fiery.

Eighth-grader Jeannie Han of Ridgefield avoided a 2015 stumper – seersucker, a puckered cotton fabric that often has a striped pattern – and triumphantly advanced with dozens of others to the second round.

By the end of that round, quesadilla, mongrel, rhetoric, mistletoe, babka, periphery, allegory, alcohol and metaphor had whittled down the bee’s numbers to 57 spellers.

Paradigm, surveillance, alcazar, blitzkrieg, apartheid, visceral, commensurate, repertoire, recalcitrant and trepak – a dance in Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” – felled more competitors through the third round.

Thirty spellers entered the fourth round, where the judges began using words not included on a list provided by the national bee.

Twelve spellers survived.

And then, entering the sixth round, there were the final three: Hafsa Ali of Little Ferry, Karnik and Nakamura.

Email: shkolnikova@northjersey.com

The 81st North Jersey Spelling Bee at Bergen Community College on Thursday, March 15, 2018. Tai Nakamura, a sixth grade student at Patrick M Villano School in Emerson, after winning the 81st North Jersey Spelling Bee.