Spelling Bee Journey Ends for Batavia Youth

Daniel K. Oster of Batavia did not advance to the semifinals of the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee after competing in three preliminary rounds.

According to Patch reporters covering the spelling bee, Oster correctly spelled "genteel" in round two of the preliminaries and in the third round, correctly spelled "paronomasia." However, he did not garner enough points to advance to the next round.

On Tuesday, Oster had to participate in a first round computer spelling test. The first round had students take a computerized spelling test with 50 words, of which only 25 would be scored. Then, in the two live rounds, each speller had two chances to test their skills in front of a crowd of 500 audience members. A correctly spelled word in this round earned the contestants three points.

Each contestant could earn up to 31 points. Once the preliminary rounds were over, spelling bee officials tallied and announced the results to the nervous children.

Oster, 14, is a student at Rotolo Middle School in Batavia. The Scripps Spelling Bee is held annually in Washington, D.C.

According to his spelling bee profile page Oster enjoys reading and writing. Oster wants to meet famed crime author James Patterson, who writes the kinds of novels Oster would one day like to write.

A previous report that Oster had in fact moved onto the semifinals was based upon a miscommunication in the field.

The semi-finals begin Thursday at 9 a.m. They will be broadcast on ESPN2.