Iolani student ties for seventh in national spelling bee
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
For the rest of his life, Matthew Won probably will know how to spell Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast.
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But with seven contestants left in the national spelling bee yesterday, the Iolani School eighth-grader came up one letter short.
The silent "d" in "Abidjan" tripped up Matthew Won.
The silent "d" did him in, even though Matthew, 14, had coolly breezed through earlier rounds by spelling "prosciutto," "scherzando," "resorcinol" and "phreatic."
Prosciutto is an Italian ham; scherzando is a playful gesture used as a direction in music to indicate style or tempo; resorcinol is a chemical used in making dyes; and phreatic is defined as relating to groundwater.
In tying for seventh place, Matthew finished better than any previous Hawai'i contestant. His reward was a $500 prize. Mindy Maeda placed 13th in 1994.
Matthew shrugged at missing Abidjan.
"I studied it in geography," he said, "but I didn't remember how to spell it."
Matthew's parents cheered him on at the finals.
"I'm so proud he made it to the top 10," said his mother, Angie Won, a school counselor.
Matthew's father, Reed Won, said, "I think it's fantastic, what he has accomplished," Reed Won said. "He loves to do this."
At Iolani, his English teacher let out a long sigh when she heard the news from the 74th annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington.
"Abidjan," said Leslie Evans. "How in heavens would anybody know it?"
But to go from 248 contestants to seven was phenomenal, Evans said.
"He studied for countless hours," she said. "He is just an incredibly determined and motivated student."
Matthew is the first state winner from Iolani. Evans went from class to class after each round to let students know about his progress.
When Matthew returns next week, he still must take his finals.
Matthew's trip to the national bee was sponsored by The Honolulu Advertiser.
Gannett News Service staffers Pamela Brogan and Susan Roth contributed to this report.
