Wilks spells success at regional bee

SANDPOINT — Imagine: you’re 12 years old, on stage under bright lights, standing in front of a microphone that amplifies every word. You’re a competitor in a spelling bee contest, and the judge just gave you the word “acciaccatura” to spell.

What do you do? Panic? Stall, while you scramble to sound the word out in your head? Maybe cup your hand over your eyes and look for your mom in the audience?

Not Harley Wilks, a sixth-grader at Sandpoint Christian School. He’s a cool customer.

“I sound it out, then I’ll try and picture the word — which one will make more sense, just to double check — and I try and say it slow so I don’t, like, choke on it,” Wilks said.

Wilks is no slouch in the spelling department. Not only did he steamroll his 23 classmates, at the regional championship in Libby, Mont., on Feb. 8, he pummeled the competition to advance to the district championship the same day. There, he went head to head with — yep — eighth-graders.

They didn’t stand a chance.

“Me and an eight grader …,” and Wilks stopped, then began again.

“An eighth grader and I went for 11 rounds,” he said

The red-haired 12-year-old came out the victor and brought the trophy home. But his spelling bee odyssey isn’t over. The champion orthographer is now destined for Plano, Texas, on May 2, for the national Association of Christian Schools International spelling bee.

The big time.

Asked if he was nervous, Wilks replied, “Yeah.”

For a spelling champ, he’s a man of few words.

Wilks considers himself “just a naturally good speller,” but doesn’t leave anything to chance either. To prepare, he studies from a 31-page list of, frankly, pretty tough words. His methodology involves enlisting the help of family and friends, who read words to him, which he then spells. Any misspellings he writes down five times. That’s the where the mental picture of the word comes from.

“It helps me visualize them,” Wilks said.

He practices “mostly every day” for about 15 minutes, or completes a couple of word columns on his list — about 45 words, he said.

Does he use spelling rules, like “I” before “E” except after “C”?

“Sometimes,” Wilks said. “When it’s a super odd word and I know it won’t follow the rules, I just try some other stuff.”

His involvement in spelling bees happened organically, he said. He likes spelling, but didn’t realize he had a talent for it. He realized spelling might be his thing when he started qualifying for spelling bees.

“I thought, I might be able to do this,” he said.

So far so good, but the real test comes in a just a little over three weeks, when Wilks faces off against the best of the best in Plano. The ACSI has over 2,700 schools nationwide. The winner takes home an iPad and $100 worth of apps to go with it.

But that’s for another day. Wilks continues to bask in the glory of victory for now, in his own way. Asked how his success made him feel, the understated, humble young man of few words replied simply, “Good.”

Any advice for would-be spelling bee contestants?

“Don’t hesitate to much on your words,” Wilks said. Just spell it.

By the way, that word, “acciaccatura?” It’s a musical term that Webster’s New World Dictionary defines as, “a short grace note sounded together with the principal note or chord, but quickly released.”

According to Wilks it’s a “fifth-grade word.”