TOFIELD, Alta. – Hanging right beside the Edmonton Oilers jerseys, toques and banners in Busy B’s second hand store window is another banner equally important to this central
Alberta town: Finola Hackett Proud to Call Our Own.
Tofield’s spelling bee whiz kid came up short of the top prize among the 274 competitors at the recent Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., but she won the hearts of people across North America as she spelled out words few people had heard of and fewer could spell.
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Hackett, a Grade 8 student from Tofield School, stumbled on the first letter of weltschmerz to come second in the televised spelling bee. Despite the cameras, media, bright lights and pressure of spelling words on stage, the smiling Hackett enjoyed each word of the competition.
“When you’re up at the mike you just think about the word and think about how to spell it. You don’t really think about the camera or the lights or the other people watching,” said Hackett, one of 13 Canadians who earned their place by winning regional and national spelling bees.
“It’s really fun. You don’t get to do something like that very often. You have to try and enjoy it even though it’s a competition.”
Hackett’s mother Sai Joo-Hackett credit’s Finola’s years in front of audiences at piano recitals and Irish dance competitions for her calmness on stage.
“Especially in the regional bee there were some kids that could perform better than others,” said Joo-Hackett in the family home at the north end of Tofield’s main street.
It’s Hackett’s second year at the national competition and only her second year entering spelling bees. Last year’s teacher announced to the class all students would enter the competition. From there, Hackett went on to win at the regional and Canadian national levels in Ottawa and advanced to the Washington competition.
Finola credits her love of reading for her spelling bee success.
“I really loved to read and reading improves your vocabulary. If you decide to enter a spelling bee it will help if you read, at least for the easier words.”
Joo-Hackett said Finola taught herself to read at three years of age while listening to her older siblings.
“We were more focused on our two older kids. We would read to them every night and helped them with homework. All of sudden she picked up a book and read. It gave us a shock,” said Joo-Hackett.
To get ready for the national spelling bee Hackett, 14, had to be prepared to spell any of the 476,000 words in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, the Scripps Spelling Bee 10 centimetre thick bible.
“Obviously you’re not going to open this up and study,” said Hackett.
The trick to spelling bees is making your own list of words you find difficult, as well as studying the lists used in previous bees. It’s also important to take an interest and be open to what’s around you, she said.
“If you’re interested in a language then you learn the different roots and the different origins words come from.”
Hackett’s strong showing also gave the residents of the small farming community a sense of pride, said town manager Jackie Kallal.
“Finola Hackett has been the Wayne Gretzky of Tofield,” said Kallal.
“It gives the town a lot of pride. It raises its profile and it’s a nice story. She’s a nice kid,” said Kallal.
An e-mail writer from Nova Scotia wrote: “Please pass on our hearty congratulations to Finola. She not only made Canada look great, but the town of Tofield certainly got on the map. You all must be so proud of her.”
From Orlando, Florida, Mark Freedman wrote: “My congratulations to Finola for her fantastic second place finish at the Scripps Spelling Bee. She represented your town and the country of Canada at the highest level with her remarkable spelling ability and mature comportment.”
From southern Alberta Chris Hawkes wrote: “I couldn’t leave my TV waiting for her next word. She did Canada and all of Alberta proud. I can only imagine how proud Tofield must be of her. Way to go Finola.”
Hackett said it means a lot to know of the community’s interest in the spelling bee.
“It’s really great all the support and interest there is in the spelling bee in Tofield. It’s great to live in a community where people really root for you and are interested,” she said.
Now that Hackett is home and no longer eligible for spelling bees because of her age, she will replace her spelling lists with preparing for an upcoming piano exam and her year-end school exams. At the end of June she will travel to San Diego for the North American Irish dance competitions, then to Malaysia for a month to visit her mother’s family.
