Vermont’s entry in the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee had some success this week, but was knocked out when he incorrectly spelled the word "barmecidal.”
Thirteen-year-old Walker Storz, of Kirby, an eighth-grader at Lyndon Town School, was one of 90 of the 288 contestants to make it past the first two rounds yesterday in Washington.
He was tripped up by "barmecidal,” which means unreal or illusory. He spelled it “barmisydal.”
Storz, who attended a Washington Nationals baseball game and visited a Virginia annex of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum while there, says he studied to prepare for the spelling bee on nights and weekends.
His mother, Thea Storz, says he did "awesome.”