Standing on a televised stage Tuesday in the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition, Olivia Lipiec flashed a smile upon hearing the word “pulchritude.” The 13-year-old from Smithtown had just correctly spelled “rond de jambe.” Now, in the second round, she was to answer a multiple-choice question on the meaning of a word.
That smile sent relief to her mother, Angelika Lipiec, who was offstage nervously watching. “Pulchritude is B: physical beauty,” Olivia said calmly, smiling again, a correct answer followed by a round of applause. Olivia and two other students representing the region all successfully completed the first two rounds of the preliminaries Tuesday at the national competition that has already eliminated more than four dozens spellers by 1 p.
m. Olivia, who attends Accompsett Middle School, was the first of the three to go Tuesday. The seventh-grader, who is learning French, correctly spelled “rond de jambe,” a circular movement of the leg in ballet.
In French, the word literally means circle of the leg. Get the latest updates on how education is changing in your district. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy .
YY Liang, 12, a seventh-grader from Hartsdale in Westchester County who is home-schooled, came up next. She correctly spelled “luftmensch” and answered that portico means a covered walkway typically at the entrance of a building. Victor Yang, 12, spelled “ginglymus,” meaning a joint (as between the humerus and ulna) .
