March 19, 2025 is when the Los Angeles County of Education (LACOE) will be held, at the Almansor Court in Alhambra, CA. The overall winner will then qualify for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. In addition to that, according to LACOE, one 4th-6th grade winner and one 7th-8th grade winner will be sent to the California State Spelling Bee in May as well. Dozens of students will be competing, but who will eventually come out on top as the overall winner of the bee?
Veronica Byerly, a 6th grader from Eagle Rock Elementary in Eagle Rock, has an incredible backstory. Byerly’s experience with spelling bees makes it very rewarding for her to be competing in the county bee. In 2024, Byerly got out during a disappointing 1st round in the Eagle Rock Elementary Spelling Bee, misspelling “multiplication”. What makes her story unique is her reaction in front of the students watching after hearing the notorious bell, which the speller hears after they spell a word incorrectly. After her school’s spelling bee last year, she was determined to try better this year. Not only did she win the 2025 Eagle Rock Elementary Spelling Bee, but in early February she won the LAUSD Region East Spelling Bee as well. With just a week to practice for the upcoming County Bee, I interviewed Byerly to ask some questions about her spelling bee experience.
GF: “Let’s go back to the 2024 school spelling bee. What were you thinking after misspelling the word “multiplication”? What did others, including your peers, say to you after?”
VB: “That’s kinda hard to remember. I guess what I was thinking was that I couldn’t really believe it. I was kind of in shock after that. And then I just went right to my mom afterwards. I didn’t really talk to anyone else. I found out earlier this year that the school said I was sick and that I went home early.”
GF: “Why did you want to try again in 2025? What motivated you to try and win not only the school spelling bee, but the regional spelling bee as well?”
VB: “Well, I wasn’t really satisfied with how I did in the first spelling bee
with my emotional reaction and the bee itself. So, I went into this year’s bee with just the goal of doing better than last year. Just to get farther, and if I got out I would handle it better emotionally. The regional bee was kind of a shock.”
GF: “How did you study for this year’s spelling bees? How long did it take you to study? Did you have a routine every day in which you incorporated studying for the spelling bee?”
VB: “Well, part of the reason that I feel like I know a lot of spellings is because I read a lot and I just kind of absorb these things. For the school bee, I went through the list and picked out the words that I thought could be a problem, and circled those. The regional bee wasn’t as quite as important to me anymore so for that one I didn’t do as much studying. At that point I was gonna go in and see what happens.”
GF: “What’s your favorite word that you got in one of these two spelling bees?” What word were you most proud to spell?”
VB: “I was exactly amused by the word “netiquette”. That was in the regional bee.”
GF: “Did you know how to spell all the words given in both the school and regional spelling bees?”
VB: “Yeah, the majority of them. In the regional bee I remember that there were some words that when I would be sitting there during the other kids’ turns, sometimes the spelling would pop into my head and other times I was trying to figure out what the word was. In the school bee, I got “fuselage” wrong because I got it confused with a different word.”
GF: “How did you feel after winning the school and regional spelling bees? What did your peers say to you after winning both bees?”
VB: “Honestly, I felt kind of overwhelmed after winning both times. I mean after I won, when I bumped into someone they would say, ‘Congratulations on your spelling win!’ and I would say ‘Thanks!’ and that would be the end of it.”
GF: “The county bee is coming up on March 19th. What are your expectations for the bee? Are you excited to participate?”
VB: “I don’t know why, but at this point in time I’m happy with what I’ve done. So I’ll be happy with how I do in the coming bee with myself for having done this well.
GF: “How do you think you would react if you won the county spelling bee? Will you be excited about going to the state and national bees?”
VB: “I don’t know if I’m prepared for that possibility. If that did end up happening, I don’t know if I could handle it.”
GF: “Finally, what advice would you give to any kids that experience setbacks or defeat?”
VB: “This is definitely from my spelling bee experience, but just in general, if you fail at something, then try again and maybe do things a little differently or think about what you had trouble with last time. This is what I kind of tried to do when going into the bee is to aim to do well but maybe don’t expect too much. I mean in the spelling bee, I wasn’t necessarily trying to win but I was just trying to do well and be happy with myself. But I guess some kids may have higher goals and maybe win. If they already tried and messed up, then they think about what they had trouble with before and ‘What could I do about that?’ and try something a little bit differently.”
And there you have it; the story of Veronica Byerly, who turned a spelling error into spelling victory. While interviewing her, I noticed that she definitely had a positive mindset. As mentioned earlier, her resilience even after her reaction in front of her school’s student body was exceptional. Byerly persevered through the challenges she faced, and she refused to stop her spelling journey last year, and instead decided to make a comeback this year by winning both the school and LAUSD Region East spelling bees. She can continue her spelling journey by winning the county bee and making her way to both the state and national bees, but no matter how she does in the LACOE Spelling Bee on March 19, winner or not, we surely are very proud of Byerly for her achievements.
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