McFalls: Trumbull’s first family of spelling
Two-time local champ aims to take top honors againBy RAYMOND L. SMITH / Tribune Chronicle
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The Tribune Chronicle Scripps National Spelling Bee begins at 6 p.m. Monday at LaBrae High School. Admission is free.
Success in area bees is spelled M-c-F-a-l-l.
Over the years, members of the McFall family have had a virtual lock at area regional spelling bees.
It began in 1997 when then 13-year-old Megan McFall won a regional spelling bee. She also won the 1998 competition.
Both times, Megan, then a West Farmington resident, made it to the mid-to-late rounds of the National Scripps Spelling Bee before being eliminated.
"I started participating in the regional spelling bees after seeing someone winning a national spelling bee competition on television. The next day, I told my mother that's what I was going to do," said Megan, who now lives in Pittsburgh and whose last name now is Riddell.
Her initial goal was simple: Beat another local home-school boy who had repeatedly bested her in local competitions.
"I guess I studied so hard to beat him, it helped me in the newspaper competition," she said.
In her second year participating in the bee, she placed 22nd.
"I think that's pretty good," she said.
In 2004, Megan's younger sister Elizabeth entered her first regional spelling. By 2006 , she won the Trumbull County competition sponsored by the Tribune Chronicle. A new written test at the National Scripps Spelling Bee knocked her out of competition before the oral rounds began.
"At the time, winning the Tribune Chronicle Spelling Bee and going to the nationals were among the most exciting things that had happened to me," Elizabeth said.
To prepare, "I decided to read more books with difficult words," Elizabeth said. "It was my method of studying."
A year later, Megan and Elizabeth's younger brother Joshua surprised some family members when he won the top prize in his first try at the Trumbull County bee. He also won the top prize in 2008.
Like Elizabeth, Joshua was tripped up by the national competition's written portion.
This year's Tribune Chronicle Scripps National Spelling Bee begins at 6 p.m. Monday at LaBrae High School. There will be 41 students competing from schools and educational programs from across the county.
The champion of the Tribune Chronicle bee will have an opportunity to compete in the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee finals on May 26 to 28 in Washington, D.C.
As much as he would like to get another crack at the national competition, Joshua knows he has to get past Monday's regional.
"Winning the Tribune Chronicle Spelling Bee is no easy task," he said. "I try to stay focused on the task by studying hard and praying I have the ability to win. You can never tell what may happen at these bees."
It is that unpredictability that drives Joshua to prepare all year long. He has been studying different lists, dictionaries and has been tested by family members. He drills through as many words as he can in a single sitting, then writes down those he has trouble with, so he can study them again.
"I like to studying hard," he said. "During the competitions I take my time, trying to picture the word given in my mind before spelling it."
Still, none of the McFall children know why the family has been so fortunate in local competitions.
"We all love to read so much," Elizabeth said. "When we were little out parents read to us a lot. Maybe that has something to do with it."
Megan says she read so much when she was a teenager that her parents grounded her by not allowing her to read for a week.
"They thought I should have been doing some other things," she said. ''Most kids get in trouble for watching too much television. I think I was able to sneak in a book by hiding behind a couch to read."
They do not believe the fact that they have been home schooled has anything to do with the family's winning streak. The children all grew up as part of the Trumbull Education Association of Christian Home Schools, also known as T.E.A.C.H.
"I'm not sure that really matters," Joshua said. "I believe anyone who really wants it bad enough and is willing to do the work in studying can win this competition. It is a matter of desire."
It is that strong desire to win that has been the most surprising to his mother, Patty McFall.
"To be truthful, when he started, Joshua was the last person I would have thought would do so well in these competitions," McFall said.
