Evan O’Dorney can spell Thyestean, jalousie and enthymeme at the drop of a hat.
The 11-year-old boy from Danville recently came in 17th place at the 78th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee held in Washington, D.C. This was O’Dorney’s first trip to the National Bee. To his and his mother Jennifer’s great surprise and delight, he made it to the eighth round. The word that eventually stumped him: athyreosis.
“I didn’t even think I would make it to round three,” said O’Dorney in an interview after the competition.
O’Dorney’s first step toward the National Spelling Bee was winning his school contest. He then went on to win the regional bee, spelling “picayune” correctly.
O’Dorney and his mother diligently prepared for the National Spelling Bee. They spent one to two hours a day studying the bee’s rules, Nat’s Notes, a compilation of words used at spelling bees throughout the years, and Evan practiced mnemonics, a technique of improving memory. He also brushed up on his roots.
“I do know a lot of roots. Ichthyophagous, for instance, is a pretty easy word. ‘Icthyo’ meas fish and ‘phag’ means eat,” said O’Dorney.
O’Dorney and his mom went to Washington on Sunday, May 29. The first round was a 25-word written test. The second round of the National Spelling Bee often seems to be the most difficult, but it’s typically the spellers’ easiest round. All of the words for round two come from the 2005 Paideia, the bee’s official study booklet, and the 250 words appearing in the 2005 Sponsor Bee Guides. Most spellers are able to easily study these words. After round two, however, the only complete source for words is Webster’s Third New International Dictionary and its addenda section, which contain over 470,000 words.
O’Dorney seemed relaxed and enthusiastic at the bee, said his mother.
“I wasn’t concerned about the people, I was concerned about the words, “said O’Dorney. For all of the words he was asked to spell, with the exception of athyreosis, O’Dorney knew immediately how to spell them. Athyreosis was a word he had just never come across. It means a condition caused by the absence of the thyroid gland.
O’Dorney and his mother had fun at the National Spelling Bee, they said. They walked around the National Mall and saw the monuments. They also just relaxed in their hotel room and played cards.
Jim O’Brien of Venture School, who has been O’Dorney’s academic advisor since he was in kindergarten, considers the six-grader a child prodigy. O’Dorney’s mom is his fulltime teacher under Venture’s home study program.
“He’s so ingenious in so many different ways,” said O’Brien. “Evan is a free spirit who just has a mind that excels in many areas, particularly mathematics and music. He has a photographic memory, it’s just so clear. When I go to visit Evan, I actually become the student. He always has something to teach me.”
O’Dorney has already passed the high school proficiency exam. He is planning to take a biology class at a community college this fall, said O’Brien.
He is also a gifted pianist and composer. On Saturdays, O’Dorney attends the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. There, he takes a piano lesson and composition class.
“I enjoy composing. I have notes in my head and I have to put them down,” said O’Dorney.
Despite having just come back from D.C., O’Dorney is already thinking ahead to next year’s National Spelling Bee.
“Spelling bees are fun. They’re exciting,” he said. “You never know if you’re going to get an easy word or a hard word.”
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