BALTIMORE — Over 240 contestants from across the country are preparing to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
One participant is a bright young student from Baltimore County.
Amelia “Bindi” Ray is an 11-year-old fifth-grader at Riderwood Elementary School.
“It’s very exciting, but it could also be nerve-wracking,” Bindi said.
Despite the nerves, Bindi has been hard at work studying.
“I write down words a lot and hang them in places so I can look at them whenever,” she said.
Bindi's preparing for even the trickiest of words — like sangfroid.
“It’s not spelled how it sounds at all. It sounds like ‘San Fran,’ but it’s spelled S-A-N-G-F-R-O-I-D. There’s like three silent letters,” Bindi explained.
Fittingly, sangfroid means composure — keeping cool under pressure — something Bindi seems to do with ease.
“These are words that are college level and beyond,” said her mother, Dr. Sandhini Ray. “It’s the unabridged Merriam-Webster dictionary — over 450,000 words.”
Sandhini is still buzzing from Bindi’s regional win.
“They integrated the Maryland flag into the ‘B’,” Bindi said while holding her trophy proudly.
“She’s amazed, but I don’t think she’s absorbed how big this is yet,” her mom said. “When she gets there, she will. I cried when I found out. Ms. Buckman comes to the phone and we’re both just crying and celebrating together.”
Bindi’s teacher, J. Heather Buchman, has also been part of the journey.
“It is indescribable how wonderful she is — not just as a student, obviously she’s very bright — but also as a human being,” said Buchman.
The two worked together after school at the PTA-funded spelling bee club.
“We talk a lot about word history, etymology — where do these words come from? How does that affect spelling patterns?” Buchman said. “But really, Bindi is the one who has put in the effort, and Bindi’s mom.”
That effort continues at home. Bindi’s love for reading began early — her mom says she would read to her children while they still were in the womb.
“This year her goal is to learn, experience, and just enjoy the love of words,” Sandhini said.
Even during the pandemic, while Sandhini was quarantined caring for COVID-19 patients, she never missed a day of reading to Bindi — sometimes over FaceTime.
“Even if it’s for five minutes, I still would make that time when I felt like I just needed to lie down and sleep — to read to my child,” she said.
Bindi’s accomplishments come at a time when life hasn’t always followed the smooth storylines she finds in books.
“It’s hard enough for a child to go through a normal life and achieve all of that. In our case, we’ve gone through three losses,” Sandhini said.
That includes the death of Bindi’s grandmother.
“It took her about two months to realize that my mother was not coming back this time from the hospital,” she said. “We’re still grieving.”
The path to the Scripps National Spelling Bee has been a welcome escape for Bindi.
“I like that books can transport you into a different world,” she said.
What she’s reading now? The First Three Minutes by Steven Weinberg, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist.
Bindi dreams of becoming a physicist and also a teacher.
“That's all life is. It's a long story that we're telling, and the better our vocabulary is, the more interesting our story is to others, and it just so happens that Bindi is a wonderful storyteller,” said Buchman.
“I’m very happy and excited for the opportunity to spell and visit National Harbor,” Bindi said.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is May 27th through the 29th at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center.
