Jake Montgomery, a seventh-grader from Pottsville Area School District, said he is already preparing for next year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Montgomery, 13, of Pottville, was eliminated from the competition Wednesday in National Harbor, Maryland, after spelling the word “numismatist” wrong. The word means a person who is interested in the study or act of collecting of coins, paper money and medals.
“As soon as I said it, I realized I was going to get out,” he said Wednesday.
He mixed up his vowel sounds with another word, he said. He added an “e” after the first letter. Jake said he took his time while on stage, saying he was not nervous. It was his first and only word he spelled during the day on stage.
“I’m actually kind of fine with it,” he said about not advancing.
He is going to put forth a continued effort in an attempt to once again get to the prestigious event. He went to the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee after he won the 61st annual Regional Spelling Bee in March in Schuylkill County. His trip to the nation’s capital is sponsored by The Republican-Herald.
On Tuesday, the students took a written test. There were no immediate eliminations for an incorrectly spelled word. He did not receive his test results back as of Wednesday.
He was one of 285 students who were competing in event, which continues today. Go to www.spellingbee.com for more information. Jake continued to watch the other students attempt to spell the words they were given after he was eliminated from the competition in the morning.
For their part, his parents, Beth and Kevin Montgomery, are still proud of him. Beth said she put her arm around her son and told him everything will be OK.
“We prepared for this,” she said, just in case he didn’t advance.
She admits her heart sank when she found out he didn’t spell the word correctly. She looked at Karen Durkin, his coach, and saw her shake her head when he added the “e” to the word. She said Jake has been having a great time during his first visit to Washington, D.C.
“This has been the best trip,” she said, adding Jake went to a zoo earlier in the week.
He will tour the city Friday. They will come back Saturday to Pottsville.
Durkin said Jake gave it his all.
“I am very proud of Jake,” she said.
She said he is a student that always tries his best.
“Unfortunately, it was an extra letter,” she said of the misspelled word.
She said he “looked cool as a cucumber up there (on stage.)”
“He showed a lot of poise,” she said.