Published: May 30, 2008 12:00 am      

Precocious speller attains his D.C. goal

ELK RAPIDS -- Not long after he was cut from last year's regional spelling bee, Chris Rice set a new goal.

He would go to the national contest in Washington.

No matter what.

"We kept telling him, 'That's a wonderful thought,'" his mother, Reva, recalled. "'Keep your eye on the ball, but if you don't make it, we're still very proud of you.'"

But Chris, 12, wasn't going to be satisfied until he won.

After last year's third-place finish -- the result, he said, of getting "a little excited" and losing focus -- the sixth-grader at Elk Rapids' Cherryland Middle School emerged as the last speller standing at the regional bee in March, an event sponsored by the Record-Eagle.

His prize? A free trip to Washington.

"We walked up the stairs and he said, 'I did it, Mom. We're going to D.C.,'" Reva Rice said. "It brought tears to my eyes."

Chris, who lives in Rapid City but attends Elk Rapids schools, is one of 288 young spellers from across the globe competing this week to become the national spelling champion.

He competes today for a chance to enter the quarterfinals.

If he advances, he could earn a spot in Friday's semifinal and final rounds.

Now he's nervous.

"If I make it all the way to the finals and I win, that's a lot of prestige," Chris said. "(I'm) kind of thinking day by day, just trying to get there."

His mother has no doubts that he's ready. After all, this is a boy who started reading cable news ticker lines at age 4 and requested harder spelling words on school tests.

Reva Rice helped her son study for both competitions, drawing words from both the dictionary and the Internet.

They also worked on root words and prefixes and Greek and Latin spelling rules, which influence many English words.

"If it's readable, he's reading it," she said. "He's never had a problem spelling. It's all come pretty easy for him."

Anne DeVol quickly noticed his ability last year. The fourth- and fifth-grade teacher at Rapid City Elementary, part of Kalkaska Public Schools, had Chris in class as a fifth-grader and suggested he try the regional contest after pulling bee words for his spelling tests.

Now, she said, he's inspired younger students at the school to follow his lead.

"He's the kind of kid that will spend three to four hours a night on his spelling words," DeVol said. "He's an advocate for himself."

Chris and his family spent their downtime this week sightseeing in the nation's capital, the first visit for any of them. It helps take the stress off.

But, he said, he plans to be much more composed on stage this time.

Win or lose.

Chris is keeping a blog about his trip, which can be accessed at http://blogs.record-eagle.com. Click on "Bee Blogger."

Today's quarterfinals will be shown from 2 to 5:30 p.m. on www.espn360.com. The semifinal round will be televised from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday on ESPN, and the finals will be aired live from 8 to 10 p.m. Friday on ABC.

Check back with record-eagle.com for updates on Chris' progress.