Scripps national spelling bee Articles and News

11-yr-old erupts in infectious giggles over his National Spelling Bee word and then nails it

He couldn't keep it together, and his joy made everyone laugh.

Kennyi Aouad totally lost it when he tried to say "sardoodledom."

Almost 100 years ago, nine newspapers joined forces to create a national spelling bee to help promote literacy. Now the Scripps National Spelling Bee has become so popular that was televised for 27 years on ESPN before moving to its own network in 2022.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a serious competition with students who have studied arduously to memorize root words, phonetic rules and unusual spellings in the hopes of being crowned the nation's spelling champion. The honor also comes with a $50,000 cash prize, so the competition is fierce.

But that didn't stop one competitor from bursting into giggles at being asked to spell the word "sardoodledom."

During the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee, 11-year-old Kennyi Aouad approached the microphone with serious concentration when it was his turn to spell. But when the judges told him the word he was to spell and he repeated it, he burst out laughing.

"Sardoodledom" isn't a word most of us have ever even heard, much less recognize. (It means "mechanically contrived plot structure and stereotyped or unrealistic characterization in drama"—basically "melodrama"—according to Merriam-Webster.) It does sound a bit funny saying it out loud, and even one of the judges started giggling at the young contestant's reaction to it.

Watch Kennyi lose it repeatedly as he tries to make it through his turn:

Despite how serious the competition is, these kids are still just kids and people loved seeing his joyful reaction to a silly-sounding word.

"His laugh!! I love that in the seriousness of spelling bees, he was able to be himself. This made me smile!" wrote one person.

"So cute. Smart with a touch of sense of humour," wrote another.

"Talk about breaking the tension!!" shared another. "I love it and he got it right!"

If you're curious, Kennyi placed 34th in that year's spelling bee. He would go on to compete again, however, and tied for 5th place in the 2009 bee.

This article originally appeared on 9.28.23

From Your Site Articles

laughter

Meet the kids and get the backstory of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The 2016 National Scripps Spelling Bee is underway in Washington, D.C.

The annual event brings the country's strongest spellers (or at least those who haven't graduated the eighth grade) together for four days of feats of academic super-strength.

The days are long. It's stressful. And while the competitors love the challenge, it's not for the faint of heart.

All photos by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

But this event is much bigger than the small school spelling bees you may be familiar with.

Here are 15 facts about the National Spelling Bee you may not know.

1. In 1925, nine newspapers joined forces to start the bee.

2. Scripps took over in 1941, and it's still running the show today.

3. There were no spelling bees in 1943, 1944, or 1945 — it was put on hold for World War II.

4. Spellers at the bee take a preliminary test before the oral rounds begin.

To get past the preliminaries, the spellers have to earn at least 27 of 30 points on a vocabulary test. Needless to say, it's really tough. You can take it for yourself and see how you score.

5. 29 of the spellers this year have family members who've competed in the bee before.

Two of the spellers have siblings who've won the whole thing.

6. 66% of the spellers attend public school.

7. Speller Zander Reed of Ames, Iowa, is competing in the bee for the fourth time!

This is Zander back in 2013, when he could barely reach the microphone:

8. The youngest speller in the competition this year is Akash Vukoti, a 6-year-old first-grader from San Angelo, Texas.

He was on the "Steve Harvey Show" in March.

9. The competition at the bee has intensified over the years. The winning word in 1940? Therapy. The winning word in 2015? Scherenschnitte.

(Author's note: My computer doesn't recognize this as a word, but young Vanya Shivashankar from Olathe, Kansas, spelled it correctly to take home the title.)

10. If spellers miss a word — and most of them will — there's a crying couch.

It's away from the stage, and spellers can reflect with their families for a while.

11. National Spelling Bee champions are an elite group, with only 93 winners in the history of the event. There have been 48 girls and 45 boys.

12. Paige Kimble, the executive director of the event, is a former champion.

Her winning word in 1981 was "sarcophagus."

Kimble chats with a young speller at a press conference in 2012.

13. The bee's announcer, Jacques Bailly, is a former winner too. He reached out to Scripps to ask about a position, and they happened to have a need.

His winning word in 1980 was "elucubrate."

14. In the bee's history, co-champions have been crowned only five times, including 2014's and 2015's winners.

2015 co-champions Vanya Shivashankar (left) of Olathe, Kansas, and Gokul Venkatachalam of St. Louis.

15. Spelling bee champions receive $40,000 cash, $400 in reference books, and a $2,500 savings bond.

16. Oh, and no one really knows why it's called a "bee" anyway.

It's an American term, found in print in 1875, but scholars suggest it was probably around before then. It could be related to the busy, industrious nature of the insect and the way they work in teams, but no one knows for sure.

The spelling bee is an iconic celebration of language and literacy.

Whenever we can cheer kids on for pursuing the interesting and mind-expanding hobbies they love, we should. Keep it up, kids! You're all amazing!

scripps national spelling bee