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Isaac Brogan outspelled the students at his school, bested the top spellers across Windsor-Essex, and now is moving on to the North American competition for the second year in a row.
With unwavering confidence, Brogan spelled out the final word “netiquette” to emerge as the two-time local spelling bee champ at the St. Clair College Centre for the Arts on Sunday.
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The 12-year-old titleholder took home a $200 scholarship and a six-night trip to Washington, D.C. — paid for by the WFCU — where he will face off against hundreds of students from across the world at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.
“I’m very excited that I can represent my city in the Scripps spelling be,” said Brogan, who is a Grade 6 student at Maranatha Christian Academy.
“I really enjoyed it last year and I’m thankful that I can go back this year.”
The annual WFCU Credit Union Scripps Regional Spelling Bee draws top student spellers from across the area.
A lineup of 26 quick-witted spellers between Grades 4 and 8 had proven themselves in competitions at local elementary schools in order to secure a spot at the regional bee.
In the 15th round, Brogan went head-to-head against runner-up Kavya Vasudeva from Christ the King French Immersion Catholic Elementary School.
The competition determined which speller would proceed to the Scripps National Spelling Bee — the largest and longest-running event of its kind in North America since 1925.
After advancing to the sixth round of the semifinal phase in 2023, Brogan said he has been preparing for the international competition all year.
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And now, with a second shot at the title, the star speller is not holding back.
Leading up to Sunday’s regional bee, he stepped up his practice regimen in preparation.
“I’ve been really preparing for the last two-ish weeks, and I’ve been preparing here and there for the past month,” he said.
“I would type out the words, then my mom would test me. I’d read over the words, sometimes at school, sometimes at home.”
During the competition, audience members watched Brogan pretend to type out the words on an imaginary keyboard — a key ingredient to his winning strategy.
“My technique is either writing it out on my hand or typing it on the keyboard.”
Also recognized on Sunday was Windsor Star managing editor Craig Pearson, although not for his exceptional spelling ability, but for his dedication over 19 years as pronouncer at the regional bee.
Pearson took home the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee Regional Volunteer of the Year award for North America. He will also follow Brogan to Bee Week at the national competition in Washington.
“I’m honestly thrilled,” said Pearson.
“I always did it because I thought it was a fun thing to do, and I love seeing the spellers excel and how thrilled they are when they get it right. To get something like this makes it even that much better. Plus, I’ve always wanted to go to Washington and now I get to go, so it’s amazing.”
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Pearson said the greatest reward for pronouncing over the last two decades has been witnessing young spellers in action.
When questioned whether he would return to the regional bee next year to try for a third championship, Brogan offered an enigmatic response:
“We’ll see.”
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