LIHU‘E — Despite English being his second language, Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School eighth-grader Akira Takabayashi was crowned champion of the 2013 aio Hawai‘i State Spelling Bee Saturday. He was awarded the trophy after successfully spelling “lamentation” — somewhat of an
LIHU‘E — Despite English being his second language, Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School eighth-grader Akira Takabayashi was crowned champion of the 2013 aio Hawai‘i State Spelling Bee Saturday.
He was awarded the trophy after successfully spelling “lamentation” — somewhat of an ironic final word. As one might guess, there was no grief or sorrow following the victory. Only joy and excitement.
“I feel happy,” said the soft-spoken, but always smiling, Akira.
Upon hearing his final word — which he described as easy — Akira said he knew he had the victory. In addition to lamentation, he correctly spelled powwow, threshold, hyphen, commensurate, Hemerocallis, prosciutto, barukhzy, bobbejaan, disparity and lozenge.
Bobbejaan, the African word for baboon, was by far the most challenging, he said.
In May, Akira will represent Hawai‘i at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. The event will be aired live on ESPN.
To prepare for the event, he said he plans on reading the entire unabridged Webster’s International Dictionary, which he received along with his state trophy.
“I want to read it about four times before the national spelling bee,” he said. “That’s about 200 pages per day.”
Akira’s father, Eric, said his son is a dedicated student and avid reader, and will likely succeed in reaching his goal.
“He can read hundreds of books per month,” Eric said.
Akira said he is both nervous and excited for the national bee.
“I think it will be a lot harder because they are also the best in the state,” he said.
As part of his prize, the spelling bee’s title sponsor, aio Foundation, is covering the cost of the trip to D.C. for Akira and his mother. But thanks to Grove Farm Co., his entire family will watch him tackle words — letter-by-letter — on the big stage.
“Grove Farm CEO Warren Haruki stepped up and offered to cover the cost for Akira’s father and sister so the entire Takabayashi family can travel together to cheer on Akira,” Account Supervisor at IQ PR, Inc. Shara Enay wrote in an email. Outside of Hawai‘i and Japan — where he was born — Akira has only traveled to Seattle.
He said he is looking forward to visiting the East Coast and wants to visit math and science museums, The Library of Congress and the National Air and Space Museum.
Until then, he will continue relentlessly reading, and re-reading, his new dictionary, which he admittedly said is “kind of fun.”
“I just hope that he has fun and represents the state well,” Eric said.
This year, a record-setting 85 schools participated in seven district bees across the state, with the 14 best spellers — two from each district — advancing to the final competition, which aired live on PBS Hawai‘i. Participants were from grades 5 through 8, and the youngest competitor was 10 years old.
“On behalf of the aio family of companies and all our community partners, we would like to extend a big congratulations to Akira for becoming the year’s 2013 Aio Hawai‘i State Spelling Bee champion. … We wish Akira the best of luck as he prepares for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and we know he will represent Hawai‘i well,” aio President Susan Eichor said.
As part of his prize package, Akira also received a perpetual trophy, which will be on display at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School for the remainder of the year, as well as a one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Online.
• Chris D’Angelo, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-0441 or lifestyle@thegardenisland.com.
