Air Force family members participate in national spelling bee

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Julie Weckerlein
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  Four Air Force families from around the world gathered here to support their children who were participating in the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee May 31 to June 1.

These four families formed an unofficial team of support that came from their military connection and shared pride in their children.

“As an Air Force family, we were close,” said retired Master Sgt. Lei Silva of San Antonio. “You see cultural groups, but you don’t see too many professional groups coming together. We found each other to be in the Air Force, gathered together and started talking about our experiences.”

The extra support was appreciated during the two-day spelling bee, said fellow parent Lt. Col. Paul Suarez of the 86th Air and Space Communications Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. His daughter, Amanda, 14, represented U.S. Air Forces in Europe in the competition, and he was one nervous parent.

“It’s nerve-racking seeing your child up there,” he said. “You wish you could use a sixth sense to communicate to her, and give her the letters to spell.”

The participants themselves, though, were probably less jittery than their parents since all of them are all spelling bee veterans.

Taysha Silva, 12, from San Antonio, had already participated in the Scripps-Howard annual competition in 2004, one year after her twin sister, Tasha, competed. Taysha made it as far as the written round, where she came just two points shy of advancing. She said she hopes to do better next year, if she can make it past her sister.

“It always happens that we alternate,” said Taysha. “She’ll win, then I will the next year.”

Taysha is anxious to break that trend.

“We’ll see,” she said. “I’m going to study hard.”

Ben Szatanek, 12, of Montgomery, Ala., earned third place in the Alabama state competition last year, which motivated him to go even farther this year. That drive took him all the way to the fourth round here.

“It was a good experience,” he said. “The most nervous I got was after the written round, where we had 25 multiple-choice questions. We didn’t find out if we made it to the next round or not until that afternoon.”

He said he’s already setting his goals for next year.

“I want to get to the ESPN coverage,” he said. “I’ll probably study a little longer every day just to get some more information.”

The extra study time doesn’t surprise his father, Lt. Col. Jeff Szatanek of the 81st Civil Engineer Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.

“He was devoting one or two hours a night to studying,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of his discipline and dedication.”

Danielle Tacey, 12, was also constantly studying, driven by the fact her older brother had the same goal in mind.

“They were both finalists last year,” said her father, Capt. Glen Tacey, 3rd Medical Group at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. “My wife, Mary, was their coach and they spent hours each day training. It became a way of life in our house.”

For Amanda Suarez, 14, the Department of Defense Dependent Schools Europe champion, this year was her first and final event. Because of her age, she won’t be eligible for the competition next year. She aced the written test, but tripped on the word “onager,” pronounced "on'u-jur," when she took to the stage afterwards. No worries, though, she said. The event was more than she ever imagined.

“It was really amazing,” she said. “The dedication and how seriously the other kids take it, it’s pretty neat.”

Her father agreed the experience was a benefit to all of the children, saying their Air Force background gave them an advantage.

“A lot of the words had foreign roots: Greek, French, German,” he said. “There were a number of words where she’d turn to me, knowing them off the top of her head because they were words we’ve seen in our day-to-day travels whereas some of the kids who have come from the states and spent time only in their home state weren’t as familiar.”

He said he and the other parents were proud of their children.

“You see them grow and mature through the process,” he said. “They get to meet other kids and become self-assured in this environment. It’s competitive, but supportive, too. Seeing them grow is really the most impressive thing.”