Tegan Seely, Pine Lake Preparatory 6th grader, won this year’s Spelling Bee for not the first time, nor the second, but for her THIRD consecutive win. She was first eligible to compete as a 3rd grader, and Tegan came in 2nd place that year to a 7th grader. She then went on to win the competition for the last three.
“I really like to read books, and have seen a lot of vocabulary, and I can picture it in my head,” Tegan said when asked about her preparation for the spelling bees.
“I practiced some with the lists, but mainly read them over to see if there were words I hadn’t seen before.” Words she has tackled in competition over the years include: blasphemous, senescent, craquelure, Okefenokee, delinquent, inimitable, and patisserie. This year, she won the PLP Bee after 17 rounds by spelling “coriander.”
Tegan said both her parents love to read, and shared their love of books with her. “I started pretty young, with Hop on Pop and all the Dr. Seuss books, and it took off from there,” she said.
She prefers mysteries, and among her favorite authors currently are Stuart Gibbs, Steve Sheinkin, and James Ponti.
When she isn’t in school or reading, Tegan plays basketball for PLP.
“I love reading and I think it helps you a lot. If you want to have a successful life, you should read,” she said.
