Phillip Gleason becomes youngest spelling bee winner

CHAMPION -- The trophy that 8-year-old Phillip Gleason received Tuesday as the winner of the Tribune Chronicle Scripps National Spelling Bee is almost as big as he is.

Gleason, of Bazetta, a home-school gifted student through the T.E.A.C.H. program, spelled "Egyptian" and "enunciate" correctly to win, becoming the youngest speller to the win the Tribune spelling bee.

Gleason will head to Washington, D.C., with his parents, Heather and Phillip Gleason, where he will compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee over Memorial Day weekend and where he also will celebrate his 9th birthday May 29.

The one-hour spelling bee, which was co-sponsored by the Tribune Chronicle and Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, was hosted by Kent State University at Trumbull, where the event was held.

More than 30 children spelled 116 words in 14 rounds at the event.

Gleason said he was excited to be part of the event.

In fact, when word pronouncer Patricia McFall asked Gleason if he was ready for his final word, he responded, "Throw it at me."

In addition to his trophy, Gleason received a one-year subscription to Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary online, the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award, a 2020 United States Mint proof set, one-year subscription to Britannica Online Premium from Encyclopedia Britannica and a $20 gift card from the Tribune Chronicle.

Second place was Dante Marsco, 11, sixth grade at Howland Middle School; third place was Daniel Naddour, 11, sixth grade at John F. Kennedy Upper Campus; and tied for fourth place were Ryan Gibson, 13, seventh grade at Ohio Virtual Academy, and Nick Nicholas, 12, a seventh-grader at LaBrae Middle School. Winners received dictionaries and gift cards.

Daniel Palmer, assistant dean at Kent State University at Trumbull, said the university stayed open for the spelling bee after officially closing at 4:30 p.m. for coronavirus safety.

He announced that a $4,000 scholarship award will be provided to the first-place winner, $2,000 for second place and $1,000 for third and fourth place if the winners choose to attend Kent State at Trumbull when they are older.

The older Phillip Gleason said he and his wife helped their son study the word list.

"He did a lot of studying and memorizing every day. We were happy he made it to the event. You can't know every word, but he knew the ones he needed to know," he said.

Heather Gleason said as part of her son's home schooling, going over the spelling words was part of the daily routine. She said while her son is 8, he has done learning at the sixth-grade level in many subjects.

"My mom and dad went over the pages of words with me," the younger Phillip said.

Even after the spelling bee, Gleason still was spelling words and was even offered $5 by one of the spectators to spell the Canadian province Saskatchewan, which he did with ease.

Heather said her son is excited to be going to the nation's capital in May and to be celebrating his birthday there.

Marsco, son of Toni and Chuck Ciapala, said he studied whenever he could and went over the word list with family. He said at school he was used to practicing in class with other students his age.

"It was surprising," said Marsco when he went several rounds against Gleason with both spelling words correctly back and forth.