Children attending Summit Country Day School in Hyde Park could not wait to get in front of the television Thursday morning. One of their own, seventh grader Tino Delamerced, was competing to earn a spot in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Marie Powers, one of Tino's classmates said, "We have to support Tino, and see how good he does."
During the second round, Delamerced was asked to spell the word 'pleurisy." He asked if there were alternate pronunciations, and the origin of the word, which is Greek to Latin to French to English if you are curious. No matter where it came from or how it could be said, Tino had to spell the word correctly to advance further in the tournament.
Delamerced's third grade teacher, Stacy Remke explained what Tino had to accomplish to be able to be in Washington D.C for the national contest.
"He had to go through a state championship, regional championship, several spelling bees to get to this point," Remke said.
His classmates played games to help him prepare for the national bee. "In the mornings at school we'd have 'Stump Tino,' and we'd put words in a box, and he'd have to spell them." explained classmate, Mathew Eustus.
When it came time for Tino to spell 'pleurisy' the crowd of about 50 seventh graders went bonkers because he was correct.
Seventh grader, Eric Bond was in the crowd. "I think it's really good that Tino is in the Spelling Bee. He worked really hard to do it, and I hope he wins."
Delamerced was one of two kids from the Tri-state who made to Washington D.C. this year. Last year his older sister finished 25th.
Unfortunately, during the last semi-final round, Tino spelled the word 'clotrimazole' incorrectly and finished 16 overall in the competition.
