The Wellesley Middle School spelling team had a score to settle during Wednesday night’s Wellesley Education Foundation Spelling Bee. Back in 2022, the youngest members in the competition came close to winning it all, but got knocked out very late in the final round. Not this time. The 8th graders’ names and faces were different, but the determination was the same. This team came to win. Game faces, check. No costumes. No silly team name. Aniruddh Arun, Eafan Sher, and Tyler Pollack simply called themselves, “Wellesley Middle School 8th graders.” That’s all.

In the end, the kids spelled “nuciverous” for the win, taking down the highly competitive Bates Basilisk team. The word refers to animals that seek out acorns and the like as a food source. Their was nothing nutty about this win—Team 8th graders came prepared.

Wellesley Education Foundation Spelling Bee 2024 — Team Wellesley Middle School 8th Graders celebrate their win. From left, Tyler Pollack, Eafan Sher, Aniruddh Arun.

Busy Bee

During the annual fundraiser put on by WEF, 35 teams, each made up of three members, competed in a round. There were five rounds of seven teams, with the winning team of each round competing for the championship. The winners took home the Ruth Humphries Bee trophy to keep for their reigning year. A plaque listing all the winners also hangs in the Wellesley Free Library.

All teams in a round spelled words simultaneously. Emcee Mike Dowling, there for his 30th Bee, announced the word and the three team members collaborated on the spelling of a word before writing down their answer on the white board provided. Teams had 25 seconds to come up with a spelling, and then displayed their answer. Teams that correctly spelled the word continued on to the next word, until one team won the round.

Just don’t tell them they can’t do it

The Bee really was big night for students. Wellesley Evolutions Team 2, due to a last-minute cancellation, was down a member. No big deal, the show must go on, and all that. Duo Chase Murphy and Tommy Moretti apparently don’t like to waste time. They dispensed with six other teams by out-spelling them on the very first word— “rime.” Take that, Team WHS Assistant Principals, and all the rest.

“Everybody hates on us and said we couldn’t win. We wanted to show them,” Murphy said.

It was on to the finals for Team Evolutions. And although they didn’t prevail, Dowling reminded them that they would always have the bragging rights of making it this far.